Flowers Taste of Blood
by Sedaytion
Summary: Falling in love was never a simple thing for Albedo. From his young years to his adulthood, his love is by his side but what abuse is she forced to endure whilst standing beside her love? And what secrets does she too hold in her heart.  2008/9
1. Chapter 1

**Comments:** This was wrote in 2008, when I was just fourteen years old, and one of my oldest fanfics. I figured I'd upload this again, considering it played such a big part in my life (: Enjoy the crapiness wrote when I couldn't write at all xD There's a lot wrong here and there, but hopefully someone can feel the emotions XD Please don't base this fanfic on what I write now – honestly, three years ago was a very, very long time ago.

**Flowers Taste of Blood**

**Chapter One –**

**I Hate You**

Sedaytion Clementine: a young teenager living at the Yuriev Inustrite since she was twelve years old: that makes it two years there. A normal human being, her father is a highly respected Doctor there, and so she lives with him. Sedaytion has her own section of the building, made to look just like her old home. There she lives with a carer named Helen.

It was supposed to be fun.

Or at least good.

It wasn't supposed to be as horrifying as it was for her. She didn't want it to be like that: not one bit.

Sedaytion walked down the light hallway, wearing a pair of skinny grey jeans, a black skirt on top and a grey, short sleeved top. She stuck out like a sore thumb, with her cloths and bright red hair, but mostly because she was the only teenage girl. She was beautiful though: she had bright blue eyes, framed by thick black eyelashes, and she had silky, long, red hair. It was straight that day, her bangs brushed across her forehead.

She had been there quite a while now, but still didn't know her way around too well. Often she got lost and had to ask a U.R.T.V the way round. She didn't know them well either: they kept their distance from Sedaytion. Well, most of them did. Only two boys said hello to her: a red headed one and a black headed one. It was funny how she still didn't know their names.

A door opened for her, and she was greeted with a breath of fresh air. The sun was out, casting beautiful light across the park. She jumped down the stairs, and walked across the path to the bench. There wasn't much to do on days off. Her father wouldn't take her out as he was always busy and she didn't know the city well enough to look around herself. And anyway: he father would not let her go out alone. She was too precious to him.

'_Too bad it's not because I'm his daughter…'_ she thought, sitting on the bench. Sedaytion brought her legs up, and put them on the bench, spreading them out in front of her and leaning her back on the side.

In her hand was a white backpack. She opened it up and took out a book called Unlondon. Seeing someone read a normal book was extremely rare them days, and none were being published. Her book she held was old: extremely old. And even though it was strange, she still enjoyed reading. Maybe it was because of the way her mother brought her up, but she enjoyed simple, none-electrical things like that.

She had read quite a bit before she was rudely interrupted by someone pulling it down. Her eyes widened and she prepared herself to yell at someone, but then she saw the redheaded boy smiling down at her. He smirked seeing her slightly mad and confused face.

"Hi," she said, quietly. She sat up properly and put the book down. As she did so, she noticed two other people with the red head: the black haired one and a white haired boy. These U.R.T.V's were different to the others: they were more human then the blonde headed ones. No, it was wrong to call them U.R.T.V's. They were human, like her and the Doctors.

"You're reading a book?" the redhead asked. "Didn't know people read them. Can I see?"

Sedaytion nodded and handed the book to the redhead. She smiled at the black headed boy and he smiled back. The red handed the book back and smiled.

"I'm Rubedo by the way," he said. "This is Nigredo and Albedo."

Sedaytion nodded, and made herself remember their names. She smiled at them both, but Albedo just ignored her. She frowned, but shrugged it off. She looked back and Rubedo.

"I'm Sedaytion," she said, with a smile. Rubedo shook her hand and once he did, Albedo grabbed him by the shoulder, making him turn around.

"Can we go now?" he asked in a slight begging way. He glanced at Sedaytion, which obviously told Rubedo the reason why.

"Look, she's not going to do anything to you," Rubedo whispered, pushing Albedo backwards, so they could speak in private.

Nigredo sat down by Sedaytion. He shook his head a little and looked at her. "Albedo just doesn't like strangers."

"Okay," Sedaytion said, nodding.

"I just don't like her," Albedo whispered. Rubedo frowned.

"But why? You haven't even spoke to her properly or anything," Rubedo whispered. "Albedo, she doesn't know anyone here so I want you to be social. She's not going to do anything."

Like a child, Albedo glared at Rubedo and folded his arms, not saying another word. Rubedo sighed and went back over to Nigredo and Sedaytion. Albedo still followed him, keeping his arms folded.

"How long have you been living here for?" Rubedo asked.

"About … a year and a half maybe," Sedaytion answered.

"Really?" he asked, surprised. Sedaytion nodded. "Why haven't we seen you a lot?"

"A lot's happened lately so I didn't come out much," she said, sadly. Rubedo nodded and there was a pause of silence.

"When are you leaving?" Albedo asked harshly. Rubedo turned his head and glared at him.

"Albedo!" he exclaimed. Albedo shrugged and glared at Sedaytion.

"I don't see why she should be here," he said. "She's not like us. She's not a doctor either: just a little useless girl."

Sedaytion looked to the ground and Rubedo stared at Albedo with wide eyes. Sedaytion sighed, and picked up her book. She put it into her backpack and stood up to her feet, swinging it onto her shoulder.

"I should be going," she said, walking away from them quickly. Rubedo watched as she went back inside the building and then he turned around to Albedo.

"What the hell is your problem?" he yelled. "She didn't do anything to you!"

"I told you I don't like her," he said. "Gives me this horrible feeling in my stomach."

Rubedo sighed and Nigredo stood up, brushing down his blue cloths. Rubedo looked back at Albedo. "Well you'd better start getting used to her because we'll be hanging around with her."

"What?" Albedo yelled. "But she isn't part of us. It's always been me, you and Nigredo. We don't need some stupid girl."

"Albedo, I don't know what your problem is," Rubedo said. "But you'll have to get it sorted out soon."

"Sedaytion can't socialize with any other U.R.T.V's," Nigredo said. "They're not … as human as us."

"Well that's _her_ problem, not ours," Albedo said, crossing his arms again. Rubedo sighed at him.

"Albedo, she won't take your place," Rubedo said assuredly. Albedo stared at him for a few moments. This made him feel much better knowing Rubedo wouldn't push him out, yet he still didn't like her. But, just for Rubedo, he nodded.

As they walked off, he felt a strange feeling in him. A quick burst of excitement as he thought about seeing her again. He frowned, and made it go away but then he was left with confusion. Why did he feel excited to see her?

It made absolutely no sense.

"What a jerk…" Sedaytion whispered, as she opened the door to her section of the building.

The scenery immediately changed, and instead of being technical and wires on the walls, there was cream floral wallpaper and wooden floors. The hallway was like a normal house: and there was a huge arch, where a door used to be, leading into a kitchen. A few feet to the left of the arch was a staircase, leading to a second floor, and there was a wooden door on the right, leading to the front room.

Sedaytion shut the door behind her, and dropped her bag on the floor. Kicking it against the wall, she walked in the kitchen. It was big, with old fashioned stuff inside from the year 2000. Even though it was all old, it felt normal to Sedaytion: this house was just like her old one.

She sat down at the wooden table and a woman walked in. She had shoulder length, brown hair, and looked about 30 years old. When her brown eyes saw Sedaytion, she smiled widely.

"Thought you were spending the whole day out," she said. Sedaytion sighed and put her elbow on the table and leaned on her hand.

"I thought so too, Helen," she said. Helen moved across the kitchen and took out a glass from the cupboard and began to fill it with cold coke.

"Did you make any friends?" she asked, looking over her shoulder.

"I saw the redheaded boy again," Sedaytion said.

"Oh yeah?" Helen asked. She brought the drink over to Sedaytion and sat down opposite her.

"Yeah. His name's Rubedo," Sedaytion said with a slight smile. She took a drink of the coke. "And the black headed one is called Nigredo. There was another boy with 'em too."

"Did he have milky kind of hair?" Helen asked. Sedaytion nodded.

"Name's Albedo," she said.

"It's good you've met those U.R.T.V's," Helen said. "They have separate minds, unlike the others."

"Albedo was horrible though," Sedaytion sighed.

"How? What did he say?" Helen asked.

"He was saying I was a useless girl I don't belong here," Sedaytion answered. A long sigh escaped her mouth. "He really hates me."

"Probably not used to havin' a girl his age around," Helen suggested. Sedaytion shrugged, not really caring.

"He was right though: I am some useless girl," she said. "There's no point me being here. I'm just here on accident."

"Hey, that's not true," Helen said. "They use your mind to do experiments and simulators in."

"Only because I was just sitting here so father decided to make use of me," Sedaytion said. "You know he doesn't care about me. He's using me is all."

Helen sighed, not knowing what to say. She knew Sedaytion was right: her father didn't have a care in the world, but she didn't want to say that. There was a long pause of silence, and then there was a knocking.

Sedaytion and Helen both looked up at the same time, and Helen stood to her feet. Sedaytion looked over her shoulder, and watched as Helen quickly answered the door. From her seat, Sedaytion could just about see some people dressed in blue. Then her heart pounded, and she began to get hopeful. Was it Rubedo and Nigredo?

"Sedaytion, some friends here for you," Helen said, turning around. She gave a small wink to the girl and Sedaytion stood to her feet, quickly going to the door.

How long had it been since someone called for her?

At the doorway were Nigredo and Rubedo. Behind them she could just about see Albedo, leaning his back against the hallway wall, sulking. Sedaytion ignored him and smiled at the boys who wanted to see her.

"Come on, Sed," Rubedo said. "Want us to show you around?"

For a few weeks Sedaytion began to hang around with them frequently. But, Albedo's behaviour was changing towards her. He was normally a timid person, yet he kept glaring at her, and as time passed he tried to trip her over, or knock into her on purpose. Rubedo tried to reason with him, and get him to leave her alone yet he wouldn't. He offended her, and was just plain spiteful. But, she tried to ignore him the best she could. Nigredo was kind, and so was Rubedo. He got in the way, but she had to avoid him. She just didn't understand why he was so horrible and she hoped he wouldn't get anymore worse.

Sedaytion spent another day hooked up to the machine so her mind was the place for the Simulator. It was so the U.R.T.V's got a better place to practise. It was dangerous if Sedaytion tried to follow them, so she stayed in a section of her mind just to herself. Her father had managed to give her a drug to stop her memories being projected, somehow, and the U.R.T.V's had no idea they were in her mind: not even Rubedo, Nigredo or Albedo.

It was tiring and a long day. She got back to see Helen eleven at night, ate and then had a bath. Afterwards she went to bed, dressed in a pair of white, cow pijama's. It felt good to get into bed and she fell asleep quickly.

Suddenly, she woke up and sat up quickly. Her sheets fell to the left and lent on the wall. A faint light came from the window behind her bed, from the moon outside. She glanced around her room, thinking she had heard someone walk around. The room was dark and it was almost impossible to see.

She reached for the switch for the lamp on the side table, and then a warm hand grabbed her wrist. Sedaytion gasped, and almost screamed. Her heart pounded and she broke the grip, taking her hand back. She moved back on her bed, until her back was against the wall and the dim lamp was switched on.

The person stood up and it took a moment for Sedaytion to realize who it was. Standing there was Albedo. He glared at her, but Sedaytion's heart stopped racing and she thought she was safe. She smirked a little.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

Suddenly, he lunged foreword and grabbed her arm. With an unbelievable tight grip he pulled her to her feet, almost making her trip and fall off her bed. Sedaytion's heart was pounding as he brought her close to his body. He kept one hand on her arm, and held her hair with the other, so that she couldn't move. Sedaytion breathed deeply and was too frightened to yell or call out.

"I hate you!" Albedo screamed down her ear. His voice was deep and horrifying. So much it made tears well up in eyes. "Why can't you die?"

Tears were streaming down the girl's face, and her frightened blue eyes looked deeply into his glowing purple ones, yet she couldn't hold the contact for long. She hadn't done anything to cause Albedo to get so angry at her, and she was frightened of what he would do to her. She heard so many stories of him beating others, nearly to death in his rage. Would he do the same to her? She hadn't tried to hurt Rubedo or steal him away, and that was what ticked him off the most. She hadn't done anything but try to be his friend.

"I'm sorry …" she whispered. Foolishly, she hoped that one word would make him let go of her but it didn't.

Intimidating her, he brought himself closer and looked down at her. Her arms were shaking, so were her legs. She was trying to be brave but she couldn't, and she couldn't even look him in the eye. He stared at her for a moment, clenching his teeth. He didn't understand any of the feelings he had when he looked at her. For weeks he had tried to figure them out and he couldn't: it just made him angrier at her. "It's easiest just to kill you!"

He let go of her hair, and put his hand into a fist. He lifted it, and she braced herself for a strike. The pain against her face was hard and sharp: the force pushed her down to the floor and Albedo let go of her arm. She hit the carpet quickly, and stayed lying there for a moment, a little shocked from what happened. Luckily, her head missed the bed.

Albedo looked down at her and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to her feet. She was shaking slightly, and she stared down. That was it: he was going to beat her to death. It was horrifying and scary: she didn't want to die. She wanted someone to find them there, and save her! Helen wouldn't be in, which was horrible, and he wasn't loud enough for people to hear him. All her hope rested on whether Nigredo or Rubedo noticed he had gone. If they didn't, she would die.

He lifted his fist again. He was shaking himself but his fist didn't move: it stayed in mid air. Albedo looked at her face red face, her crying eyes, and her shaking body and he didn't want to hit her. But, the feeling made him more confused and he did. He was at war with himself: wanting to hit her, not wanting to and then wanting to hit himself for thinking that he wanted to hit her.

"Why do you have to be in my life?" he yelled.

Suddenly, the door swung open and light from the hall was let in. Albedo looked to the side to see Rubedo and Nigredo standing there, both shocked by the sight. Rubedo's eyes widened in shock and anger towards Albedo. He couldn't believe what he was doing to her.

"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled.

Albedo let go of her arm, and before Sedaytion was able to run away, he wrapped it around her neck. He pulled her back, and rested her head on his chest. His grip was tight enough to make her struggle to breath but not enough to strangle her. She tried to pull him off yet he wouldn't let go.

"Rubedo …" she moaned lightly. Sorrowfully, Nigredo and Rubedo looked at her.

"Albedo, let Sedaytion go," Nigredo said.

"No!" Albedo yelled.

"Albedo, get the hell off Sedaytion now!" Rubedo yelled, taking a step foreword. Albedo shook his head.

"I hate her, Rubedo," Albedo said. "She confuses me!" his arm tightened around her slightly. "She gives me these strange feelings and I hate it! I've dealt with it for weeks now!"

"Albedo …" Nigredo said. "Helen will be here soon and you'll be in serious trouble."

There was a long pause of silence, and both Rubedo and Nigredo wished they could help Sedaytion. They both knew what Albedo was capable off, especially after incidents with other U.R.T.V's. Sedaytion's face hurt and so did her head. Her hair was a mess, and her arm was quite sore thinking about it. Her heart was pounding against her chest and there was nothing she could do.

"Albedo, let her go," Rubedo said. "You're hurting her …"

Albedo looked down at her; he stared at her hopeless eyes; her wet face from tears and her shaking body. Then he looked at the mark he had made under her eye and on her arm. His heart broke slightly seeing her in such a state and slowly his arm loosened around her neck, until it was back to his side.

She was thankful to be free, and the proper breath of air was wonderful. She relaxed slightly, and in his final fit of rage he pushed her to the floor. She hit her elbows on the carpet, along with her knee's but it wasn't painful. Quickly, Albedo ran out of the room, and Rubedo chased after him.

Nigredo stayed, and took a few steps foreword. Hesitantly he went over to Sedaytion. She sat up on the floor, her legs spread out in front of her. She sighed deeply and wiped her eyes and face, along with brushing down her hair with her fingers. Nigredo bent down on his knees and looked at her.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you badly?" Nigredo asked. Sedaytion shook her head.

"He didn't hurt me bad. Just hit me," she said. She forced a smile to her face. "Thanks for finding me."

"No problem," Nigredo said.

A sigh left Sedaytion's lips and she stood to her feet. Her heart was slowing down and the two of them went downstairs into the kitchen. Nigredo sat Sedaytion down on a chair and poured her a glass of Coke. Nigredo sat opposite her and she drank her drink quickly. She stared at her glass, trying to recover from what just happened.

"He really doesn't like me, huh?" Sedaytion said.

"He normally gets mad at people who hurt Rubedo," Nigredo said. Sedaytion looked up at the ticking clock. It read half two in the morning. She sighed and leaned back on her chair.

"Do you mind waitin' with me until Helen gets back?" Sedaytion asked. "She should be ten minutes."

"Yeah, okay," Nigredo said.

The door opened and Sedaytion quickly turned around, hoping it wasn't Albedo. It was just Rubedo being followed by Helen. He looked angry and tired but showed Sedaytion an assuring smile. Helen quickly ran past Rubedo and ran up to Sedaytion. She pulled her up from the chair and hugged her tightly, brushing down her red hair as she did.

"Oh Sedaytion," she whispered. She let go of the hug and looked at her apologetically. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here! Don't worry darling, I won't work nights anymore. Promise. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Helen, don't worry about it," Sedaytion said with a smile. Helen's eyes widened as she noticed the quickly appearing bruise on her face.

"He hit you!" she gasped.

"Helen," Sedaytion said firmly. "I'm okay!"

"Albedo's been put into isolation for tomorrow," Rubedo said. "He's not too happy about it."

"Sorry," Sedaytion said.

"You don't have to be sorry," Rubedo said. "You didn't do anything."

Sedaytion nodded and Helen put the glass in the sink. She turned around to Nigredo and Rubedo. "I think you should be going back to bed."

"Yeah. Night," Rubedo said, leaving the room. Nigredo stood up and smiled lightly at them both.

"Goodnight," he said, following Rubedo. The door shut and Sedaytion sat back down at the kitchen table.

She leaned one side of her head on the table, and began to fall asleep quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two –**

**Sedaytion's Mind**

It had been a week since the incident with Albedo. Since then he hit her, and threatened to kill her three times. She was frightened of him: terrified. She didn't want to pass him in the hallway, or even glance in his direction. She avoided Nigredo and Rubedo just to keep away from him. It was horrible: she seriously couldn't understand what she did that ticked Albedo off so much.

She decided not to be useless though. In his eyes she was, and she was going to prove to him and herself that she wasn't. On the day she had to be in the Simulator, she told Doctor Mizrahi she wanted them to know they were in her mind and had been. She agreed without question, and before she had to be used, she quickly ran into Mizrahi's office when it was empty.

Quickly, she searched the drawers until she found a gun. She placed it in her backpack, just in case she would need it. She heard about monsters and war happened with the U.R.T.V's and that's why they would train. Sedaytion didn't know much, and really she didn't want to. She just wanted to get involved and find out what they were doing: maybe learn so she wouldn't be useless.

Before entering she checked her appearance. Her hair had been straightened, and her bangs brushed across her forehead. Her cloths were a pair of grey jeans and a white, flowing top, with a black top underneath. Nervously, she went into the room, and was being prepared to be used.

The U.R.T.V's were ready, and Doctor Mizrahi began to speak in the microphone to them.

"Today you will be entering another Simulator," she said. "Area is the same as last week: another city. You'll be in the mind of Sedaytion Clementine."

"What?" Albedo yelled. "We're in her mind?"

"Albedo, shh," Rubedo said.

"For the last year and a half you've used her mind for the Simulator quite often," she continued. Rubedo frowned. "We've got orders from her father to keep her extra safe today. We have no idea if she's ever followed you, but today is going to be difficult so do not let her follow and keep her safe."

Sedaytion opened her eyes quickly. She found herself lying on grass, yet she didn't know where she was. The sky was dark and grey; the world was murky and gloomy. Pushing herself up, she looked around. A church was to the right of her and there was a single tombstone in the graveyard. Curious, Sedaytion stood up to her feet, picked up her backpack and swung it over her shoulder.

She had a feeling whose name would be on the tomb yet she wanted to check just to make sure. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the name.

'_Alison Jem Clementine.'_

"Mother …" she whispered. Her head shook. "But what are you doing here?"

Sedaytion looked at her surroundings and it was different. Usually she'd be in a Theme Park, with rides and all sorts of things. Yet, she was in a graveyard. Was it because of her determination? Sedaytion thought long and hard, trying to think of an answer and then she found it.

"Father never gave me the drug …" she whispered. "Maybe that creates the park for me so I'm safe. But why wouldn't father want me to be safe?"

"Sedaytion?" someone called. Gasping, Sedaytion turned around. There was Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo along with a few other U.R.T.V's.

Sedaytion frowned, and it seemed they were just as confused as she was. Wondering whether they were real or not, Sedaytion stared at them. She didn't understand much about the Subconscious Domain, apart from it could project memories. She had no idea if it could make people she saw daily.

Rubedo and Nigredo walked over to her, but Albedo kept his distance. They were defiantly real; they had to be.

"Why didn't you tell us we were in your mind?" Rubedo asked. Sedaytion shrugged.

"I didn't think it was a big deal," she said.

"But I don't understand … why couldn't we see you before?" Nigredo asked.

"I think it's because father gave me a drug to stay somewhere safe," Sedaytion replied.

"Why couldn't he give it to you now?" Albedo sneered.

"So you haven't had it now?" Rubedo asked. Sedaytion shook her head. "Well, you'd better stay here."

"No! I'm coming with you," she said. Rubedo shook his head.

"It's too dangerous," he said.

"Yeah, and we're not gonna have time to keep our eye on you," Albedo harshly said.

"We won't be long, Sedaytion," Nigredo said. "And we'd prefer you to stay here so you're safe. Okay?"

Sedaytion looked down and stayed silent for a moment. Then she nodded, agreeing to stay where she was to be safe. It was all for the best, as they said. They said they wouldn't be long, and as they began to leave, Sedaytion watched them carefully.

They went down a pathway, surrounded by dark trees, leaning over it. After waiting a minute or so, she followed, albeit quietly. She had no idea where she was going, but she followed the single path quickly. It was boring, but was over in moments and next thing she knew she was in a city.

In amazement she looked up at the tall buildings, and the beautiful orange and red coloured sky. The sun was quickly setting, and she couldn't understand why it was so dangerous. The city was huge, going as far as the eye could see. Lights were switching on as the sky grew dark. It was awesome. The only problem was the eerie silence that hung around, but Sedaytion just ignored it.

Sedaytion didn't understand why there was a city within her mind, and realised it was the simulator. She had made it there, and she was going to help! She remembered something called U-Do they trained to fight, or defeat. She wasn't sure what it was: it could be some creature or a place for all she knew. Even the city could've been U-Do.

Sedaytion walked for awhile, trying to find a U.R.T.V or U-Do. She felt no danger and kept her gun in her bag. As she walked, she kept her eye out for Rubedo, Nigredo or Albedo. She couldn't let herself be seen by them. She looked at her watch and made an agreement with herself.

"I'll stay here for an hour," she said. The Simulators could last from one hour to twelve hours and she had to make sure she wasn't going to get caught. "If I can't find U-Do then, or anything to help with I'll go."

Just then she heard a few gunshots nearby. A window smashed near her as it was shot and it made her jump. She saw no U.R.T.V's or anything, but she could hear yelling. She felt a little frightened at that moment; she took her gun from her bag just to feel a little bit safer.

As she went further down the street, it was like she stepped into a nightmare. Her foot went into a wet puddle, and as she looked down she saw blood on the street. She gasped, and moved her foot quickly out of the way and moved away from the blood. There was a crash of thunder, and rain suddenly fell from the sky. It ran down Sedaytion's face, soothing her as it did so.

She continued her walk through the horrible city and heard a shot right behind her. Quickly, she turned around and U.R.T.V was there. Blood had splattered across his face; a large circle of blood was around his chest. He had been shot. Looking around, she saw another dead body on a building. Perhaps his gun had shot this U.R.T.V. But, Sedaytion had no time to think. She quickly dropped her bag onto the wet floor and reached to grab the falling U.R.T.V.

"Are you okay?" she asked. She was panicking and placed him to lie on the floor as she took out some bandages from her bag.

He moaned slightly, and Sedaytion looked sorrowfully at him. She was going to help him: she was determined. "Don't worry. I'll save you," she told him. He coughed once, some blood ran down his face, and she quickly wiped it away.

Sedaytion ripped up the bandages, and moved his cloths so she could wrap them around his wound. He groaned at the pain, and she apologized a few times. His eyes kept shutting but she kept waking him up, refusing to lose him. There were a few more screams near by, and more Gunshots. She screwed up her face each time she heard a scream.

Once she had done she looked at the U.R.T.V. Sedaytion took his hand and checked his slow pulse. There was too much blood and she knew he wasn't going to make it. He looked up at her and she smiled as best she could; trying to hold back tears.

"You'll be okay," she assured. She had always been told U.R.T.V's were just machines, used like dolls; like she was. That the only real ones were ones from 666 to 669. But, she couldn't believe that.

Sedaytion looked at the number on his hand. It said 612. She remembered that really well, and he coughed a final time, a little bit of blood went on her white top. And then he died. Sedaytion stayed there for a moment, sitting on the cold floor. The rain took most of the blood away, yet it ran onto her knees and bag. Ignoring it, she shut his eyes and put her things in her bag.

Sedaytion swung the bag over her shoulder and continued to walk down the street. Her gun was firmly in her hand and she glanced down at her watch. Fifty minutes left. The boy, 612, played on her mind for the few moments of peace she had. She always thought she'd be used to seeing someone die, especially after last time but she wasn't. Not at all.

Sedaytion stopped suddenly and held her breath. Her legs were frozen in shock, or in fear: who knew? Purple beams were flying into the sky, hitting many U.R.T.V's. As it did they screamed painfully, and died. It was like a bloodbath. The most horrible thing she had ever seen. She heard the word U-Do being screamed repeatedly. Was that U-Do? As she looked more carefully down the street she saw some of the boys changing.

She shook her head. No, what she was seeing wasn't right. It couldn't have been. It was impossible.

Sedaytion took a few steps foreword to see if it was real or not. The boys … were changing. The ones who had been hit by U-Do were either dying or changing into … monsters.

'_No, monster's aren't real …'_ she told herself as she got dangerously closer. She couldn't help herself but to be curious. _'It's gotta be my mind playing tricks on me.'_

Sedaytion was only a few feet away from where some of the U.R.T.V's were dying. But, she didn't feel frightened. Her curiosity had got her at that moment and nothing would pull her away from finding out what was happening. It was like … a monster was inside of them, and they ripped open their skin as they came out. They were weird shapes, almost like humans but with pointy arms and weird facial features.

One had appeared in front of her, and it looked deeply into her eyes. Her limbs were shaking with immense fear; it was just inches away. She tried to lift up her gun, yet her body was frozen in fear. She told herself to run, don't look back, but she couldn't. It was more terrifying then the night with Albedo.

It lifted its razor sharp arm, ready to stab Sedaytion, when a U.R.T.V ran in front of her.

"No!" Sedaytion yelled, grabbing the U.R.T.V's shoulder. She was about to pull him away, and give her life for him, but the monster was too quick. It stabbed him in the stomach, and the usual red liquid sprayed on Sedaytion's cloths. She, herself, had been cut along the arm sharply, yet she hadn't noticed. Her blood dripped down onto the floor.

She took a few steps back and the boy slid off the monsters arm. Quickly, the monster turned around and ran away. Still shaken up, Sedaytion moved foreword and looked down at the boy. His injuries would surely kill him, yet he tried to speak.

"Pro …protect … S-S-S…Sedayt-tion," it whispered.

Doctor Mizrahi gave orders to protect her. She realised that.

"Thank you," Sedaytion said, with a smile. She checked around to make sure no U-Do or monsters were near her, and then she bent over to look at the boy's number.

_655_

Sedaytion quickly straightened up and looked at the bloody massacre in front of her. Realization suddenly kicked in and she took many steps back. She couldn't bare to watch them fight and die endlessly any longer. Quickly, she ran down the street for her life. She was frightened and her fragile mind was struggling to take in what was going on.

There was so much screaming, so much death it was unreal. She was truly in a nightmare. Or at least she hoped she was. Her feet splashed in puddles mixed with water and blood.

She saw a medium sized, brick bridge and decided to take shelter under it. She breathed quickly, trying to catch her breath. Sedaytion leaned her back against the cold wall, and ran her fingers through her damp her.

Sedaytion saw someone or something move in the corner of her eye. Quickly, she turned her head and saw a boy limping towards her. She ran over to him and helped him stand. He was injured in the leg, but that was it. Finally, she was going to be able to help. She was going to save him.

"You okay?" she asked. The boy looked at her blankly. She smiled. "Does it hurt? I'll help ya, so don't worry." She smiled.

Sedaytion didn't notice the U-Do beam swoop under the bridge.

The purple light hit the boy standing in front of her, and warm blood sprayed everywhere; over her cloths, her face and the wall. The body fell to the floor in front of her, and her blue eyes widened. Her heart was pounding, and her hand immediately reached to cover her widened mouth. She let out a scream, and she took a few steps backward, letting her back hit against the under bridge cold wall. She slid down it, and hit the floor, a few more splotches of blood went on her cloths. Her gun dropped to the floor by her, and so did her bag.

She couldn't believe it: there was so much death around her; had she entered hell? Sedaytion wished she had listened to her father and Rubedo: she wished so badly she hadn't followed them, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. And all she wanted to do was help. But she couldn't. She couldn't help anyone. And no one would be able to help her. For all she knew Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo were dead or were monsters. For all she knew she'd die.

Her limbs were shaking, and she arms had fallen to her sides. She couldn't care that she was covered in blood, that she freezing cold or soaking wet from the rain. All she could care about was the boy and the others who were dying.

She hadn't felt so alone in her life. She wanted to leave under the bridge, just to find someone yet she didn't have the courage. Teenagers her age were dying out there: even if they hadn't been born properly they were still people. For ages she listened to the rain, the crashing of thunder and the odd final scream of someone. Her mind was too fragile to handle it all, and she was frightened she'd be there forever: no one knew where she was.

As she was watching it all, she thought she was handling it. But she wasn't: she couldn't. It all just piled on her like a pile bricks. Every death, scream and splatter of blood she heard and saw in the last half an hour ran through her mind over and over again.

Like a lonely child, she pulled her shaking knee's up to her chest, and hugged them tightly. Her head leaned on her knee's and tears began to leave her eyes. She couldn't bare to look at the body in front of her for more then a moment. How she longed for home, for warmth; for shelter.

There was a scream and she hunched her shoulders dejectedly. She felt her blood trickle down her arm, and it dripped onto the floor. The wound was bad, yet not enough to kill her. She couldn't care less about it or the pain anyway.

Sedaytion lifted her head, hearing a few footsteps. They were outside the bridge first, but then they began to echo. She lifted her head, opening her eyes slightly. Her vision was blurred from the crying, but she didn't bother to make it better. She saw two feet stop in front of her, and as she lifted her head to see the face her heart pounded quickly.

Albedo.

"No," she whispered, fearful of her life. His eyes were wide and he was staring down at her, and she stared back up at him fearfully. They were alone, and she knew he wanted to kill her, and he would. He would if he ever got the chance and now he had it.

He took a step foreword, and she opened her mouth to yell until he covered his with a single finger. "Shh…" he said softly. His eyes had softened, and slowly he went down onto his knees. He acted as if she was a skittish cat, taking his time with his actions slowly. He moved foreword, to be as close to her as possible. Her heart was pounding, yet his eyes had changed: she didn't feel like she should've been scared.

"This…" he whispered. "Is horrible … huh?"

Sedaytion nodded, still unsure about him. He smirked slightly and brought his pale hand to her face. She was worried he was going to strike her, but he wiped blood away. She frowned but wasn't going to complain. His kindness was what she needed at that moment. Whether he would hurt her when they got back, it wouldn't matter if he helped her get through it.

"You're … not going to hurt me?" she whispered. Albedo gingerly shook his head. He took his bloody hand from her face, and wiped the red liquid on his trousers. Not many people had gotten as bloody as her before, but he was used to it.

"Don't worry, you'll be safe with me," he assured. He looked at her white cloths, stained in red. "You're covered in it …"

"I think … I got too close to them …" she whispered, feeling the tears well up in her eyes again. Albedo looked sympathetically at her.

"How many did you see die?" he asked softly.

"A lot. Three near me …" she answered. "I tried to help them but …"

She began to cry again and Albedo stared at her. He wanted to stop her from crying, yet he didn't know how. He tried shushing her gently, like she was a child but didn't know what else to do. No one had comforted him in his life, apart from Rubedo a few times and he was too timid to hold her tightly and tell her it would all be okay.

"Sedaytion," he said. "Don't cry. You probably did your best and they're just U.R.T.V's. Nothing special. They've got one collective mind or something like that."

Sedaytion sniffed, her tears were stopping. She wiped her face with one hand, and then felt Albedo grab the other one. Her heart thudded, wondering whether he would hurt her, but he was holding her gently. He gave her a faint smile, and she smiled back.

"Come on," he whispered. Sedaytion nodded, and using his hand and the wall for support, she stood up quickly. Before they began to move, she picked up her bag, put it over her shoulder and then picked up her gun.

"Where did you get that?" he asked. Sedaytion smirked.

"I stole it from Doctor Mizrahi's office," she answered. "Don't suppose she'll miss it."

He nodded. As they walked, Albedo refused to let go of her hand, even though he must have known she didn't need him to hold onto her. And then it struck her: did he need her? Did Albedo need her to be soft and kind to him just as much as she needed from him? As they walked out into the city area, the rain hit hard.

She felt his hand shaking; her blue eyes glanced in his direction and he did look quite frightened.

"Albedo …" she murmured. "Are you frightened of this place?"

Albedo sighed, ran his hand through his hair and then nodded. "Don't tell anyone or else."

"I won't," Sedaytion promised. "What happened to Rubedo and Nigredo?"

"They're at the graveyard," he answered. "We were gonna go, but then you weren't there and I agreed to find you."

He went to find her? He did? The boy who was out to kill her in the most painful way? It was … weird … strange. Out of the blue. Why? Why did he try to find her? She wanted to ask it so much, but she couldn't bring herself to. It could make him angry or anything. She kept it in, and looked across the street. There was still yelling, screaming and gunshots. In the corner of her eye she could see some of them mutating into the monsters. It was surprising how Albedo, Rubedo or Nigredo didn't go crazy. They had been brought up to live like that. To Sedaytion it was sick.

"You've been hurt," Albedo said, just noticing the cut on her arm. Sedaytion looked to her bloody arm, sighing. It stung yet it wasn't a terrible pain: she could deal with it. And she wasn't going to get killed or hurt badly.

"It's no biggie," she said.

Albedo's pace quickly sped up, and as they walked further and further, Sedaytion noticed less buildings and more trees. The streets had singled out into one single path, just like the one from before. The screaming had stopped, and there were no more gunshots. Had they made it out of there? She was so thankful, but would only be happy when she'd get home.

"Do you still hate me?" Sedaytion asked.

"Don't think so," Albedo replied. Sedaytion nodded.

"Why … why did you hate me?" she asked. Albedo looked down to the ground, almost shamefully.

"You really confused me," he answered. "Loo, just never mind, okay?"

"Okay," Sedaytion said, nodding.

There was a long pause of silence as they walked down the path. All the buildings had gone and they defiantly weren't in the city anymore. After the pause of silence Albedo looked at her.

"I'm sorry I hit you," he said. His face went a little red. "And I threatened you. And frightened you."

"It's okay," Sedaytion said. She had forgotten about it and she couldn't care less about what he had done, only because he had changed.

The path opened up, and the trees spread out. They found themselves in the Church yard; Rubedo and Nigredo were sitting on the wall near the church.

Her mother's tomb was still there; Sedaytion ignored it. Rubedo and Nigredo ran up to the pair of them, both shocked by the amount of blood she was covered in. Albedo, awkwardly let go of Sedaytion's hand and looked at Rubedo. There was a long pause of silence and Rubedo shook his head.

"I can't believe …" he couldn't get his words out and took a moment, before yelling. "What the hell were you thinking?"

His yelling made Sedaytion jump slightly.

"I told you to stay away! Just look at you! And hell knows what you've seen," Rubedo yelled.

Sedaytion looked to the ground, too angry to speak, Rubedo walked away. Nigredo stood still, wondering what to do and Albedo followed Rubedo back to the wall. They sat on it and spoke. Sedaytion let a long sigh escape her mouth and she looked across the almost empty graveyard.

"I was only trying to help," she whispered.

"You did your best," Nigredo said to her. "You can always help outside the simulator, if you want."

Sedaytion sighed again. A small, blue and white portal appeared from the ground a few yards in front of her: the exit. She watched as Rubedo and Nigredo ran in first. Just as Albedo was, he turned around to her.

"Come on," he called.

Sedaytion reluctantly followed, slowing her pace down; she knew her father was going to kill her when he found out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three –**

**Secrets**

Sedaytion sat up suddenly, wondering whether it had all been some dream: a nightmarish delusion her mind had given herself for the fun of it. Maybe somehow, all the U.R.T.V's were safe, and none of them had been injured. For a few moments she sat there, staring at the o-so familiar Dive room. Plain walls, small room and the machine took up most of the space. One door would let her in and out; a guard was on the opposite side.

The few moments of believing it was a dream was the only relief she would get. When she looked down at the gun in her hand, the wound on her arm and their blood soaked on her cloths, she was sharply brought back down. Everything she had seen had happened; everything she had touched and smelt was real. But why? It seemed so impossible for all of that to have happened, her small mind couldn't comprehend it. No one could be put into that situation: especially not a child.

Quickly, she shoved the gun into the bag beside her, and stood up out of the pod she had been lying in. Her legs were like jelly, like she had been lying there for hours. It took her a moment to get used to the realistic world. She put the bag over her shoulder, heading for the door.

It opened and as it did, a small gasp emerged from her lips. Standing there, red with anger was her father. He had dark red hair, darker then Sedaytion's, shoulder length and tied back. He was wearing a pair of thick framed, oblong shaped black glasses, a white lab coat, and dark jeans. They looked nothing like each other; even the hair was different, and their eyes. Standing behind her father was Doctor Mizrahi, with a strange look of concern.

Before Sedaytion could say a word, he had tightly taken hold of her hand, and was beginning to drag her out of the room. She tried to get her hand back, stopping in the hallway, but he was too strong. "Will you let go of me?" she screamed. She didn't care how many were staring, but she started to scream and kick, trying to get her father off her wrist.

"Can I go home now?" Sedaytion begged. Her eyes glanced at the clock sitting on the glass desk she was at. She had been there for more then an hour; listening to her fathers yelling and inquisitively asking questions.

She looked at her surroundings. There was a large window behind her father who she sat opposite to, bookcases lined the walls of the room, and a few computers were stuck closely in-between them. A guard was in the room, which put up some questions. Had her father put him there, or did Doctor Mizrahi? She knew about him, so perhaps it was her. Sedaytion didn't see reason to why her father would put a guard in there himself.

"No," he said firmly. He picked up a pen and began to write out some documents. A sigh escaped his mouth. "I have to talk to you first."

"I've already spoke to you!" she yelled. "For more then an hour! And most of the time you yelled at me."

He stayed silent, writing out the document. Sedaytion sighed, beginning to get very irritated by her father. He was so rude, and she tried to contain herself yet she couldn't.

"You're a bastard," she said. He lifted his head up quickly, his cheeks returning to the usual bright red.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that!" he yelled.

"I can speak to you however I wish," she said. "Your no one to me. Your just a piece of dirt. I can't believe how you can put children through that! And you just use me!"

"Jem, you don't understand," he said. She gritted her teeth slightly, shaking her head.

"Don't ever call me Jem," she said firmly.

"You're my daughter, and that's what I've wanted you to be called," he said. "So I have a right to use it."

Sedaytion suddenly sat up, slamming her hands on the glass desk. She looked deeply into her fathers dark eyes. The guard stood up straight, watching her closely.

"You are not my father!" she yelled. "My mother and my father named me Sedaytion. You were just some stupid guy that got in the middle. Blood and cells don't matter."

A sharp stinging pain ran up Sedaytion's arm, making a slight squeal escape her mouth. Her father held tightly onto her wounded arm, blood staining his hand. He brought her closer to him and then whispered. "Speak to me like that and I'll kill you."

He let go of her hand, reopening the cut painfully. In a frustrated fear, she picked up her bag, quickly leaving the room. The door opened, and then shut. Thankful to be out, a sigh escaped her mouth. Her arm hurt, and she felt a drop of blood fall to the floor, but she couldn't care less; she was just happy to be free from his grasp. She hated him.

After getting her wound sorted out, having a peaceful and warm shower, and getting dressed, Sedaytion left her home, heading for the forest area. People had called it dark and depressing, yet she never saw it that way; it was an isolated place, somewhere great to go with her thoughts. She escaped deep into the forest, hoping to be alone.

The shadows cooled her skin. She sat on the ground, leaning her back against on of the trees, with her legs spread out in front of her. Her small bag was sat beside her, and her arms were by her sides. She sighed, listening to the silence and her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about the horrible things she had seen that day, and she wanted them to disappear and never come back. Yet, she knew that would never happen; she would never be that lucky.

There was a rustling behind her, and as she turned her head, hearing a few leaves get crunched under someone's weight. Walking slowly through the forest, was a U.R.T.V. As he passed her, she glanced at the number on his palm, praying it was either number 655 or 612. But she wasn't that lucky: printed on his hand was 431.

"Excuse me?" Sedaytion called. He slowed down and she called him again. The U.R.T.V halted, looking down at her.

"Yes?" he asked.

Sedaytion paused, wondering whether or not to ask the question. She didn't really want to know the answer, but her mouth opened.

"Do you know whether 655 and 612 are alive?" Sedaytion asked. The U.R.T.V shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Maybe you should check out the list in the Lab?"

"Okay, I will," Sedaytion said with a nod. He nodded back, and began to walk away, deeper into the woods. "Thanks."

Sedaytion sighed deeply, pushing her legs out in front of her, and leaning her head on the trunk of the tree. She shut her eyes gently, feeling a gentle breeze against her skin. She felt strange peace as she let go of the horrible feelings she had felt that day.

"Sedaytion?" a frail, shaking voice asked.

Sedaytion opened her eyes to look up, from where the voice had come from. Standing in an awkwared position was Albedo. He held his arms around his chest, and it looked like he was shaking; his eyes were puffy and red: had he been crying?

"Are you okay?" Sedaytion asked. He shacked his head ever so slightly, almost as if he was ashamed.

Sedaytion sat up straight, as Albedo took a seat by her. He sat close, leaning his back on the same large tree. He was close to her, their shoulders almost touching; he brought his knees up to his chest and rested his arms on them. With a sigh, he leaned his head on the tree.

"Have … you been crying?" she whispered. Albedo stayed silent for a moment. "You can talk to me."

"You'll laugh," he said. Sedaytion shook her head.

"I won't," she promised.

He opened his mouth, yet nothing came out. He shook his head, sniffing slightly. "What did your dad say to you?"

"He just yelled," Sedaytion said, looking down at the ground. "He said some stuff, I don't really understand …"

"Like what?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," Sedaytion said. "He probably only said it to frighten me."

Albedo looked at her for a moment, feeling a weird flutter in his heart. He turned his head away, and both sat there in silence. Sedaytion didn't feel awkward or bored at the fact they were in silence. She knew something was on Albedo's mind, yet she didn't want to pressure him into telling her. For once she felt peaceful and happy with someone by her side; something she hadn't felt for ages. Slowly, she leaned her head on his shoulder.

He jumped slightly at her movement, looking at her for a moment, wondering why she was leaning on his shoulder. But he said nothing, closing his eyes and thinking about things. Maybe, just maybe, had he touched her heart ever so slightly like Rubedo touched Sakura's?

Quickly, without knowing it, Sedaytion lifted her head, kissing Albedo lightly on the cheek. She pulled her head away quickly, feeling herself go red in the face. As she kissed him, Albedo went red straight away, pausing for a moment. The different feeling he had at that moment took him back for a few seconds.

"Sorry," Sedaytion whispered. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Albedo said. He looked at Sedaytion who was as red as he was.

Albedo turned to face her, changing his position so he sat on his knees. Gently, he put his slightly shaking hand on Sedaytion's red cheek. In moments they were sharing their first kiss, both hearts pounding from nerves. Albedo brushed his hand through her hair as she wrapped her arms around him.

That was it. They both knew it.

He liked her.

And she liked him.

Maybe they both liked each other even more deeply then they knew at that moment, yet neither of them knew.

"I really, really like you," Albedo whispered.

Neither of them had expected to get their first kiss anytime soon. He couldn't stand people to some point, and he was too shy, yet with her, he wasn't. And for her: things were too complicated to even comprehend. Boys were the least of her problems. And with the rocky start she and Albedo had gotten off on, it was mind blowing they were kissing.

"I really like you too," she smiled as they pulled away.

Albedo held tightly onto her hand, their faces still close to each other. He smiled widely, feeling an emotion of happiness he had never felt before. His heart felt like it was flying; the butterflies were still in his stomach. She actually liked him on the same level he liked her.

Sedaytion had spent the rest of the day with Albedo, talking and giggling. It was official they were in a relationship, even though Rubedo didn't know. But did he really need to? Sedaytion got home late in the evening, and as she opened the door she was greeted with a surprise.

But not at all a pleasant one.

For standing in the hallway, with his usual reddened face was her father. Stood by him were two guards, Helen and Doctor Mizrahi. Both woman looked slightly concerned and Helen looked quite upset. Sedaytion froze, staring at the unexpected guests in her house. She felt her heart sink suddenly to the ground. Her father quickly began opened his mouth, hissing his deep and frightening words at her.

"You don't dare go behind my back!" he yelled. "You little bitch."

"What are you talking about?" Sedaytion asked, raising an eyebrow. The words of spite that left her fathers lips were no shock to her, and were just normal.

"You cannot date a weapon!" he yelled.

"Robert, calm down," Helen said, looking at Sedaytion with concerning eyes.

"Yes, yes I should fucking calm down," Robert, her father, yelled, gritting his teeth. "My daughter is in love with a fucking weapon, not obeying my orders and won't fucking do as I say!"

"Hey!" Sedaytion yelled, taking a step foreword. She heard the door shut behind her. "Don't you dare yell at Helen!"

She felt the anger well up inside of her as Robert gleamed at her with glowing eyes. She shook her head, clenching her fist. "If it weren't for Helen, you wouldn't be seeing me and I wouldn't be being looked after properly."

"You really think I _care_ about whether your looked after or not?" her father yelled. These words stabbed Sedaytion's heart sharply, and she looked at her father.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. She knew he didn't love her as much as her mother, no where near, but she thought he loved her enough to care.

"Only reason I keep you alive is for that chip in you," he said, slightly calmer then before. She paused, staring at him. The words didn't make sense and she took a minute to respond.

"A … ch-chip?" she asked, frowning heavily. He nodded.

"Yeah. You have a fucking chip in you!" he yelled. Sedaytion's eyes widened and a tear ran down her face. "Now how does it feel to really have your world crash before you?"

He took a few more steps foreword; Sedaytion's head looked down at the ground. She couldn't understand: was he saying this out of spite or was he really meaning it? He couldn't have been though: she was human. Pure human. She had no powers, no machinery inside of her. She couldn't be anything else.

"I can't be…" she whispered.

"Deal with it," he spitefully whispered. "You're not properly human. Thanks for coming here, Jem. You're giving me a lot of information about humans and U.R.T.V's."

"You're not making sense," Sedaytion said, shaking her head. "I have no chip."

"You do," Doctor Mizrahi said softly. She paused before continuing. "We've been … using you for an experiment."

"When you stop taking the drugs the U.R.T.V's activate the chip," her father said. "It'll send concentrated electric energy through your left arm, coming through to injure enemies at your own will."

"No, you're lying!" Sedaytion screamed, lifting her head. Her chest hurt from the stress and anger her father had suddenly given her. She shook her head. "I'm not a weapon. I'm not a robot. I'm not an experiment."

"You are," her father said, the usual evilness returned to his voice.

"But why?" she asked. "Why?"

"We've spent two years making the chip as strong as possible," Doctor Mizrahi said. "Now it's time to use it."

Sedaytion shook her head; the tears began to roll down her face uncontrollably. She couldn't believe it. The day had been one of the worst days of her life: she realized what was going on in her head, and she learned she wasn't a pure human. But, she remembered about the bond she had created with Albedo. That was the only part of her day that hadn't been based on a cruel, on going lie. As she thought deep and hard, she realized many questions she didn't know answers to. She thought about the explanations her father had given her for different things that had happened, and had they all been lies?

"What happened to mum?" Sedaytion asked.

"What?" her father asked, completely taken back by the question.

"If you've lied about this," she said, looking down at her left arm. "What else have you lied about?"

Her father took a few steps back. Everyone in the hallway could feel the anger coming from his body. Even Doctor Mizrahi seemed shocked by how angry her perfect Doctor Robert Clementine was getting. The guards kept their eyes on him carefully, and Helen kept giving Sedaytion the warmest smiles she could.

Realizing there would be no answer to her question, Sedaytion quickly turned around for the door. It opened for her, and she heard her father take a few quick steps foreword.

"Get here now!" he screamed. "Where the hell do you think your going?"

"To see Albedo," she whispered.

"Jem, for once in your life, listen to me!" he yelled. She shook her head.

"Why should I listen to a man who once I looked up to?" she asked calmly. A few more tears rolled down her face. "I once called you daddy. I loved you so much, daddy." She wiped a few tears off her face as she paused. "I want you back. I want daddy, not this man. He … frightens me. Lies to me. I don't even know who you are anymore. I miss you when I was young."

"People change as they grow older!" he yelled.

"No, daddy," Sedaytion said. "People _lie._ People speak the truth after the lies fade away."

"Jem don't talk to me like that!" he yelled. "I'm your father, and you have to listen to me."

She stood in the doorway, holding onto the doorframe lightly. "My father died ten years ago."

Sedaytion quickly left the room, her hair lifting slightly in the wind. She heard her father try to move foreword, and the movement of the guards. She heard him cursing at her as the door shut. Sedaytion breathed deeply as she headed for the room Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo were in. She tried as best she could to contain the emotions she had inside of her, yet a few tears left her eyes.

As she came to the door she paused. Her heart was pounding quickly, and butterflies suddenly came to her stomach. She knew the guys for months now, yet for some reason she hesitated to push the button to open the door. She felt ashamed at the thought of them seeing her in a state. She felt ashamed she had broken down; she felt ashamed she had been used and was not as human as she thought. She took one small step closer to the door, and then another. She lifted his clenched fist up, holding it in mid air. And then she knocked on the door. Her arm returned to her side, and she heard movement on the other side.

Suddenly, the door slid open, and standing there was Nigredo. His eyes slightly widened to see Sedaytion's damp face, slightly messy hair and bloodshot and puffy eyes. She forced a smile and a small giggle to escape her mouth.

"Hiya," she softly said. She saw Rubedo and Albedo behind Nigredo, lying on their beds, still wearing their uniform.

"Sedaytion?" Nigredo asked, bewilderment plastered across his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I wondered if I could …" she paused, not really knowing why she had gone there in the first place. She needed to escape her father and see people she trusted and liked, yet she didn't want to seem weak. Pushing that aside, she shrugged. "I just wanted to stay here for awhile. Is that okay?"

"Ugh, yeah," Nigredo said, moving out of her way so she could go inside.

Their room was quite large. Three beds were at the left side, a table with five chairs was in the centre, made from glass, and there was a sofa and a television at the top end. A closet and two blue drawers were in the corner of the right, and was all surprisingly neat.

When she came inside, Albedo immediately stood to his feet, going over to her. He brushed some of her bangs out from her face, and embraced her. She smiled slightly, feeling the tingling sensation on her face where he had touched her still.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Nigredo shut the door, and sat at the table, followed by the also confused Rubedo.

"Yeah, yeah, just great," she lied with a smile. She sniffed. Even though a few tears were falling from her eyes, the tone in her voice was absolutely perfect.

'_I'm too used to lying,'_ she thought.

Albedo led her to the table, gesturing for her to take a seat in between him and Rubedo. She gave a small smile to Rubedo, before placing her elbows on the table. She leaned her head on the palms of her hands, and stared off in thought. There was a deep silence in the room, none of the boys knowing what to say.

"What happened to you?" Rubedo asked, looking at her. Sedaytion paused, thinking of a way to word the thoughts inside of her.

"I'm not human," she whispered.

"What?" Albedo cried. She hunched her shoulders dejectedly. "What are you talking about?"

"I have a chip," she said, lifting her head. She looked down at her left arm. "I've been being …" a lump appeared in her throat as she tried to say the word. She swallowed it, before continuing. "modified."

"Why have you only just learned about this?" Rubedo asked.

"I guess I…" she paused. "I guess I pissed Robert off too much today, that he let it out in spite."

"Robert? Your father?" Nigredo asked.

"He's not my father anymore," Sedaytion said. She felt the lump appear in her throat again, yet this time she couldn't contain it. She felt the tears run down her face, and then a sob escaped her mouth. She put her arms on the table, resting her head on them, so no one could see her face.

Albedo reached over, taking her hand gently. "Don't worry about him." He said softly. "Don't worry."

Believing his every word, she nodded, lifting her head back up. She felt her heart beat slow back down and the butterflies lifted from her stomach. The tears were beginning to stop; she wiped the remaining ones away. After the silence had passed, Rubedo spoke.

"Do you want to stay here?" he asked. Sedaytion sniffed.

"Not sure," she said. "There isn't anywhere for me to sleep."

"You can sleep on the couch," Nigredo suggested. Sedaytion nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, okay then," she said happily. "Helen won't mind and I'm not going back there."

Sedaytion couldn't sleep. She sat up on the couch, wrapping her blanket around her shoulders. Her eyes were still swollen slightly, and her face was red. The room was dark and silent; a faint blue light came from a small glowing lamp, yet not enough for her to see properly. She pulled her legs up onto the couch, crossing them over. Sedaytion left a long sigh escape her mouth, looking over her shoulder. She could just about see where the guys were soundly sleeping. How she wished she was part of a group like that; with no secrets, no sorrow and no death. She returned her head to look down at the ground, and began to hum a song. She couldn't remember the words, or the name but it was most likely a lullaby her mother had sung to her as a child. Sedaytion sniffed lightly, wondering what might happen to her. Would her father forget what happened and still use her for the Simulators? Or would he send her away?

"Bastard!" Sedaytion yelled, hitting her knees. The anger had suddenly been let out, making her feel just slightly calmer.

She heard movement behind her, mentally slapping herself for waking someone up. She felt her cheeks warm up as she turned her head. Albedo stood in the middle of the room, leaning his hand on the glass table.

"What are you still doing up?" he asked.

"Can't sleep," she simply answered, shrugging her shoulders.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four –**

**Safety**

Sedaytion had left the boy's room in silence whilst they slept early in the morning. She found herself on the sofa, leaning her head on Albedo's shoulder. Somehow she left quietly enough for no one to notice. Quickly she rushed home, took a cool shower and got changed. She made herself forget about what had happened the previous day, and the simple things like brushing her hair felt calming to the poor girl. Somehow she managed to wake up Helen, who only said the words 'I'm sorry' over and over again (mostly apologizing because Sedaytion told her not to). Middle of the morning she learned she would be needed in the simulator late afternoon. To kill time, Sedaytion walked down the building, down to the music room where she hadn't been in years.

It was small plain and simple; a large black piano stood in front of the window, and a violin was on a stand next to it. A few times Sedaytion had seen a girl around her age play the piano. She heard her name was Sakura Mizrahi, Doctor Mizrahi's own daughter. Something about her pushed Sedaytion from talking to her; for some reason she could never bring herself to say hi or smile kindly when she glanced in her direction. And it seemed Sakura could not do the same thing.

It wasn't like Sedaytion wanted to be in the music room. If it were up to her she would be reading peacefully outside, yet the weather was terrible. Sedaytion opened the blinds covering the window with a single button, letting her see the terrible rain falling from the crying skies. Miserable weather was always her favourite. Well, ever since the incident. If she hadn't felt ashamed of herself, she would've gotten Albedo, Rubedo and Nigredo to play with her outdoors in the rain. But, she couldn't do that either; she couldn't stand to see them.

So, her eyes returned back to the room, glancing around for the one item she wanted. When she found it she froze. Sitting in the corner of a room, next to a high wooden chair, was a beautiful, albeit slightly dusty, deep red guitar. Around the hole in the centre, was a beautiful and unusual pattern. Black lines spiralled around the left side, in a small oval, intertwining with the other lines.

With shaking hands, she lifted up the slightly dusty red guitar. The simple acoustic was held with great care, and brushed off with gentle hands. Sedaytion sighed lightly, glancing out of the window as she placed it properly on her knees. She leaned the back on her chest, placing her left fingers on the correct cords and her right fingers on the bottom. For a few moments she brushed the strings down gently, getting used to the familiar sound. The guitar played almost happier then it had before; perhaps excited to be played for once. For two years it had sat in the isolated music room, with only a piano and a violin to keep it company. No one played it, no one stepped near it; not even Sedaytion.

Mostly out of fear; fear to remember.

"Hi there," Sedaytion said to the guitar as she begun to play a beautiful, yet sad song. She smiled slightly, closing her eyes to get sucked into the music. "Let's play together, yeah? I don't want any hassle."

In a few minutes of practising, Sedaytion began to let her voice sing. She began to sing the song 'Nobody's Home' by Avril. Sure it wasn't the happiest song, yet she wasn't in the happiest mood. Being a superb musician, Sedaytion sung and played the guitar with ease. At first she was rusty, her voice missing a few obvious pitches, but after a few moments she calmed down, letting her talent shine through. She took herself out of the real world, and just became involved with the music. It had been years since she sung and played. Years without expressing herself in the only way she could. Only because her father hated the fact she could sing.

Her mother had taught her to play guitar, along with many lessons. She was okay at the piano as well, yet it didn't feel right to play it. The voice came naturally for the girl, and even though she didn't have the greatest brains, she had the voice to take her through life successfully.

Feeling eyes watching her, Sedaytion opened her own, closing her mouth as she did so. Her fingers froze where they were, and the music room returned to the complete silence it had been in a few minutes ago. Her cheeks grew bright red as she saw Albedo watching her through the window. A smirk crossed her face, as she went over to it, placing her guitar on the ground gently, letting it lean on her chair for support. Sedaytion undid the cold window, pushing it upwards. The cold air blew into the room, making her shiver. A few rain drops landed on her face.

"Albedo, what are you doing?" Sedaytion asked bewilderment on her words. _'He standing there reminds me a lot of Rubedo. He watched that girl play piano a lot …'_

"I didn't know you could play," he said, still shocked at her performance. "Or sing."

"Yeah," Sedaytion said. She smiled nervously and then her eyes widened as she just realised how soaking wet Albedo was. "Hey, you're gonna get a cold. Here, come in."

Sedaytion moved her hand, gesturing for Albedo to climb through the window. He nodded, and she pushed it higher up for him to have more room. With her spare hand she helped him climb through, before shutting the window. Firmly she locked it and then turned back to Albedo, who was shaking his head to get rid of the water.

"What _were_ you doing outside in the rain?" Sedaytion asked, dropping her arms to her sides casually. She felt her cheeks return to the usual colour, and she was beginning to finally feel relaxed around Albedo.

"I didn't feel like going to see Rubedo or Nigredo," Albedo answered quite sharply.

"Oh? Why not?" Sedaytion inquired.

"It's none of your business, _okay_?" Albedo snapped. His harsh voice caused Sedaytion to jump slightly. For a moment all hope was lost of Albedo really liking her. For a split second she thought Albedo truly did hate her, and the previous day had just been a sham. But then he hung his head.

"Sorry," he said. "Last thing you want is someone yelling at you."

Sedaytion shrugged. "It's okay."

"Look I really like how you sing," Albedo said, giving her a smile. "Can I listen to you … maybe?"

"Yeah of course!" Sedaytion laughed. "I've never really played in front of anyone apart from my mother and Helen. Do you play anything?"

"No," Albedo answered.

"I can teach you if you want," Sedaytion said.

"Really?" Albedo asked with excitement in his voice. Sedaytion nodded. "Okay, great, thanks!"

"Do you have any lessons here?" Sedaytion asked.

"Yeah," Albedo said. "I've learned about science, maths and Christianity and stuff."

"Christianity?" Sedaytion repeated, remembering the word.

"Old, very old, religion," Albedo said.

"Yeah … I know …" she said, wondering why she recognised the name. Shaking her head, she pushed it from her head.

With her warm hand, she took his cold and wet one, giving him a smile. She looked at his beautiful purple eyes, feeling the redness return to her face. For a second she just stood there, looking at him: lost, but then she spoke, ever so quickly though.

"Take me with you today in the Simulator," she said with hopeful eyes. He shook his head.

"Sedaytion, I want to," he said, putting his other hand on her cheek. He brushed her bangs slightly, the tingling feeling where his hand had been stuck to her skin. "But I don't want to put you in any danger."

"Albedo, I'll be okay," Sedaytion promised. Again, his head shook.

"Don't you remember yesterday?" he asked. "What if it's like that again?"

"Albedo, I'll be fine," she said, bringing her face close to his. "Promise."

Gently, she planted a small kiss on his lips. Both teenagers' faces went a bright shade of red, and he smiled sheepishly at her. Suddenly, a slight tingling feeling ran through Sedaytion's arm. Her eyes glanced down from Albedo's face to her left arm. Nothing was there, and soon the tingling feeling had left. Ignoring it, she looked back at Albedo.

"Alright," he quietly whispered, kissing her lips, longer then she had. Sedaytion smirked slightly, and he placed a hand on her hip, making her nervous slightly.

"So I guess we're defiantly a couple then," Albedo said with slight nervousness.

"What makes you think that?" Sedaytion joked, smiling up at him.

The door suddenly slid open, distracting both teens. Standing there was Doctor Mizrahi. She apologetically looked at Sedaytion.

"It's time now, Sedaytion," Doctor Mizrahi said.

'_Go near them and I swear they'll be trouble._

_Put yourself in danger and I mean it._

_I'm always watching.'_

The words of her father were what she heard when she opened her eyes. The terrifying words clung to her skull; threatening her. A deep sigh left Sedaytion's mouth as she opened her eyes to look around. Yet again she had appeared in the churchyard. The same dark and grey churchyard she didn't understand. The wind blew fiercely, sending her hair in all directions. She rubbed her arms slightly, trying to get warm. She was sat on the long grass, looking up at the dark sky. She had never seen the sun in her head before, which made her wonder.

There was movement ahead of her, and Sedaytion turned to face it. Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo had appeared, along with some other U.R.T.V's. She smiled widely at the so familiar faces. Standing up, she went over to greet them.

"How are you?" Nigredo asked.

"Eh I'm okay," Sedaytion shrugged. "Better then yesterday."

"Good," Rubedo said, gently tapping her on the shoulder.

Suddenly, there was a defining gunshot from behind Sedaytion. A bullet flew through the air, landing in the ground by her feet. The sudden sound made everyone jump; a small squeal emitted from Sedaytion's mouth. In a split second Albedo had hold of her wrist, pulling her towards him for protection. On the other side of the graveyard was a person. They dressed in a black robe, their face covered so much it was impossible to see if they were male or female. In their hand was a silver pistol, pointed towards them. The wind blew the loose robe around, and all the person did was stand there.

Sedaytion's breaths were shaky, and she found herself grabbing hold of Albedo. The silence was long, horribly long. No one knew what to say or what to do and it seemed the person didn't want to say anything either. The person sent shivers down Sedaytion's spine as she realized she recognised them. "No way…" she whispered, taking a step back. "It can't be …"

"Who is it Sedaytion?" Rubedo asked with seriousness in his voice.

"I think it's him …" Sedaytion whispered. "The man who murdered my mother."

"How can you be sure?" Nigredo asked. "You can't see his face."

He was right; she wasn't sure at all, but he gave her the same feeling she had when she first saw him two years ago. There was another bang, the bullet landed again near her feet. Sedaytion stumbled into Albedo as she moved away from the bullet. Her heart was pounding, her breathing increased. As he lifted the gun higher, aiming for her head, a blinding white-blue light poured out of her hand, giving her a strange tingling feeling, stronger then she had felt before. She let go of Albedo's arm, whilst they all stared at the energy in pure amazement. The white-blue beam sunk deep into the ground, disappearing into it. Sedaytion frowned, feeling her heart beat quickly. Suddenly, it shot up from the other side, where the robed person was.

The electric energy split into three different beams as it came in contact with the person. He screamed as it ran up his body, sinking into his skin. His gun dropped to the ground, as it did the energy sunk back into Sedaytion's hand. The person struggled to get the remaining electricity away from him; swinging his arms around as the pain got stronger and stronger. After a moment, it seemed to have disappeared, as the person stopped moving. He panted quickly, regaining his energy as he did. All seemed shocked that the person was picking his gun up again, having survived the electrical energy.

"Is he part of my memory?" Sedaytion asked, taking a step back. She completely ignored the fact she used her power, instead she put her mind on the important things that were going on.

"I don't think so," Nigredo said.

"You don't _think_?" Sedaytion asked, with slight fear in her voice. "Either yes or no."

"No he's not," Nigredo said.

"Then how'd he get here?" Sedaytion asked.

"There must have been a by-pass," Rubedo said.

"But we'd have been told about it," Albedo said, keeping his eye on the dangerous person. "Nothing can get through the simulator unnoticed."

"Unless it was planned …" Sedaytion said.

"Planned?" Rubedo repeated.

"He's practise," Sedaytion said. "Father anticipated the likelihood I'd be with you. And so he brought him into my mind, so I could practise on him with the power. That's why he's not shooting _at_ us."

A sharp pain shoot into Sedaytion's head suddenly, making her scream. Her sight went blurry instantly, as well as her feeling dizzy. Something had hit her with such a force she was pushed to the floor, landing sharply. Her elbows clicked painfully as they hit the hard ground, as well as her ribs. Albedo quickly turned around, to see a U.R.T.V standing above her, holding a large silver pole in his hand. A little bit of Sedaytion's blood was on the top, where he had hit her. A large, incontrollable anger appeared in Albedo stomach, and he hit the U.R.T.V, sending it away from Sedaytion.

"You bastard!" Albedo screamed.

"Are you okay?" Nigredo asked, getting down on his knees to Sedaytion.

"Albedo leave him alone!" Rubedo yelled, trying to pull Albedo away from the U.R.T.V. He couldn't let Albedo beat another U.R.T.V to death like he did just a mere few days ago.

"Get off me Rubedo!" Albedo yelled, pulling away from Rubedo's grip.

Nigredo wiped some blood off Sedaytion's forehead, before it had a chance to run down her face. She moaned slightly as he helped her to sit up. Gently, Nigredo took her sore arms, helping her to lift up the top half of her body. Still stunned and dizzy, Sedaytion held onto her head when she was sat up properly. She put her legs out in front of her, Nigredo had his arm behind her back so she wouldn't fall backwards.

"You okay?" Nigredo repeated, looking at her eyes. She nodded.

"You never hurt Sedaytion!" Albedo yelled, hitting the U.R.T.V with force. He fell backwards onto the floor, letting go of the metal pole as he did so.

"Albedo!" Sedaytion cried, seeing him pick up the pole.

Quickly, Sedaytion stood to her feet, stumbling slightly as she tried to get to Albedo. Nigredo stood up as she did, taking her arm. He pulled her back from Albedo, to make sure she wouldn't get hurt. She tried to struggle away, yet the blow to her head had made her dizzy and weak.

"Albedo drop it right now!" Rubedo yelled. "Don't do what you did before. You'll kill him!"

"I don't wanna kill him," Albedo said. "He shouldn't have hurt Sedaytion!"

Sedaytion looked over her shoulder, trying to see whether the man in the robe was there or not. He had gone, but it sent shivers down Sedaytion's spine: where could he be? Her mind spiralled as she looked around the church, trying to find him. In the background she could hear the loud arguing of the boys, yet she wasn't properly in tune with the world to get involved. Sedaytion pulled away from Nigredo's grip, and began to go to the other side of the church, not knowing why. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her head, and then her chest. Before she knew it she hit the floor, her world turned black.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five –**

**Promise**

****Okays, this is gonna leave a lot of questions, but in the next chapter you'll hopefully understand what happened. Sowwie its bad XD**

**=] *****

Albedo didn't know what happened.

He hated how he didn't know what happened.

He even hated Rubedo – he hated his twin for not telling him a word.

_He promised me no one would leave me. Is this what I'll have to deal with? With my eternal body, my everlasting blood. –_

_Is it lies I'll have to deal with? Along with the pain?_

She spiralled in his darkened thoughts. The idea of wishing he never met her. Soon, his thoughts turned just as dark as the room he was sitting in: why couldn't he have killed her when he could? Oh, how easy that would've been! His arms had been wrapped around her neck; maybe if he had pulled hard enough she'd be dead. And he wouldn't feel such pain. Life would've been easy. At that point when he knew her, he didn't know he _loved_ her, yet alone liked her. She was so different from everyone else: she was his only escape from the world he knew; from the death, the screaming, from the tears.

He wanted the sympathy of his twin at his side. He wanted to hold him, tell him everything would be okay; he needed Rubedo to be there. He wanted Rubedo to be there to some extent, but on the other hand he hated Rubedo. Why couldn't he just tell him what was going on? Why did he have to keep secrets from him? They weren't kids anymore. No matter what he said.

But still, Albedo had found himself sitting on the bed Rubedo peacefully lay in. His one foot rested on the floor, the other rested on the soft blue material. In the darkness of the room he could just about see Rubedo's chest move as he inhaled, and exhaled. He was happy Rubedo and Nigredo were alive and unharmed. They were just as important to him as she was; if they had all been injured he'd be devastated. If they had all died …

… he couldn't even bring himself to think of that. He wouldn't _let_ himself think of that.

After a moment of staring down at his sleeping twin, he reluctantly pulled away from Rubedo, careful to retreat without notice. He refused to let himself wake up Rubedo – mostly for the fact he'd avoid any conversation about her. Rubedo would pretend nothing had happened – he'd probably yell at Albedo for waking him up, telling him not to act so childish and to sleep in his own bed. For once Rubedo was acting cold; he had done for the entire day since they got back. He refused to let Albedo go to the Medical room, or even to her home. Rubedo even threatened Albedo to the point he was bawling on the floor; crying like a baby. And even then he was cold.

_Rubedo was cold._

He was never cold. Not even when they had learned about Albedo; he hadn't acted cold then.

As Albedo walked through the room, heading for his own bed, he passed Nigredo. Unlike Rubedo, Nigredo was calm; a calm tinkling river; the complete opposite to Albedo and their redheaded fiery brother. He was always impossible to read, silent and mysterious. He hadn't spoken a single word since they left the Simulator. He hadn't even been seen for most of the day – he had disappeared off somewhere.

_Most likely to see her._

Albedo's fists clenched up as an overwhelming anger flushed through him. Why did they get to know what happened to her? Why did they get to be told that she had died? Because that was it: she was dead. She had to have been dead and they were the only ones who were allowed to know of it! A sharp disgust went through Albedo's stomach, replacing all the misery and confusion. He couldn't stand to be in the room with them, he wanted to be alone; isolation was the best place for him. Just him and his thoughts.

Albedo silently opened the door, walking into the dark hallway. Quietly, he shut the door behind him, before placing his back on the cold wall. He slid down it gently, sitting on the floor. Trembling, he un-clenched his fists. Breathing deeply, the anger inside of him turned back into the misery and confusion he had felt before. Why was it that he couldn't die? Why had he been damned with such a curse?

Albedo bit his lip. Those others, those dolls of destruction were allowed to fight. They were allowed to fight and destroy U-DO. They were allowed the relief of death. But not him. Death wouldn't claim him – not death itself would take the poor, lonely child. Instead, the Devil toyed with him. Teasing him by giving him death but not letting him taste the sweetness himself.

Once Albedo felt more stable, he stood up to his feet, shaking slightly as he did. He refused to let himself cry. He might have thought she was dead, but that might not have been true. Perhaps he was lucky enough that she would be alive – maybe something good out there would give her a second chance, and won't let him feel pain. Maybe, just maybe; if he prayed hard enough. Albedo tip-toed back into the room, looking around. Everything was the same – his twin shifted restlessly in his sleep as he always did, and Nigredo just silently lay there, unmoving like most of the room. He let his gaze linger for a moment longer, just in case someone had caught him awake. Nothing. He moved to his own bed, climbing onto his slightly; not even letting it squeak. He stuffed his head under his pillow, to contain himself in the darkness. Maybe if he cut off all his senses, he wouldn't cry or even think of her. He would just sleep and if he was lucky – he would sleep forever.

He didn't notice the person at the foot of the bed until a small touch of his side startled him out of his skin.

Before Albedo could move, the body was already in the bed, curling up under the blankets to the side of him.

The scent of roses mixed with lilies entered his nostrils, as well as that little sickly scent of hospital bandages.

_Is it …?_

"S-Sedaytion?" he stammered, trying to rise.

He was pushed back down by firm hands, and a gentle kiss on his neck made him shiver. His face turned bright red. "It's okay. Shh, go to sleep," the voice whispered gently. A cold hand was placed on his cheek. "Everything's going to be alright. Promise." The lips touched his skin again, helping his body relax. He was happy; happy she was alive. He moved his head from under his pillow, so he was able to see her face.

She looked tired and exhausted, a few scraps were on her face. Her bright eyes looked up at him as he wrapped his arm around her back, pulling her closer to him. He was never going to let her go again; no matter what. Albedo was going to protect her, forever. She'd never die; never ever.

Both were awake, yet neither of them moved much; they stayed were they were, more then content to be close to each other again. Gently, he twirled her hair around his finger.

"No one would tell me if you were alive or not," he whispered. "I guess they were doing it to protect me. Sedaytion … will you make me a promise?"

"What is it?" she asked quietly, lifting her head.

"Don't ever leave me," he said. "I don't want to be left alone. They're all going to die, apart from me. I don't want to be alone – stay with me. Always."

Albedo could only just hear the soft, slightly muffled reply but it let his lips curl into a smile.

"_Promise. We'll never be alone."_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six –**

**Me and You**

"_Stop it! You're gonna kill him!"_

The rain poured from the sky, and the wind blew fiercely. Lying on the floor, with patches of blood on her cloths as bright as her hair, was Sedaytion. Her cloths were damp, her knuckles red and sore, and her eyes were shut tightly. As usual, the graveyard was dark and eerie; the moon ominously floating in the sky. Its rays were sharp; casting down, across the empty and large graveyard to only show the dark grass and the single gravestone. A silver item shone in the light: the bar was stained in blood and was placed in the middle of the grave, near the lying Sedaytion.

A moan escaped her rosy lips: her sore eyes began to open and her body twitched. Weirdly, her ice blue gem eyes had been changed; as they opened they showed beautiful colours of pink and gold, instead of the iced blue they once were. As she breathed her chest felt sore: her hand reached to her forehead, to check there weren't any bad injuries. The cut on her head stung as her fingers touched it, sending them away.

Sedaytion coughed a few times as she sat up, blood spraying on the grass and the palms of her hand. Her body ached, and her mind was dizzy. She couldn't remember what had happened and why she was lying there; why she had been knocked out. When she was sat up, her eyes looked down at her arms. There were a few bruises, along with that cut she had gained a few days ago. There wasn't much damage on the outside of her body. For a moment she sat there: her eyes glazed down. Her mind was starting to work, and the memories were flooding back. She remembered Nigredo holding onto her arm tightly: she remembered seeing blood and hearing gunshots and then everything went back. Had the other been injured?

A sudden sweep of fear and loneliness overwhelmed Sedaytion. Her heart began to thud loudly and quickly. Her hands began to tremble: her eyes looked around the empty graveyard. The wind blew her long locks in all directions, whistling in her ear as if to tell her something.

"Hey?" Sedaytion yelled in the silence.

She stood up, almost stumbling as she did so. Her already injured arm went across her stomach; a little limp was in her movement. It seemed every bone and every muscle ached in her weak body. Hell knew what damage had been done to her. Her mind began to panic – something had gone wrong in the simulator, but why wasn't she out? Why hadn't it been ended? Was she … trapped?

"Albedo?" she screamed desperately. Sedaytion paused, hoping to hear someone yell back but only the wind made noise. The rain patted her face in a soothing way; the wind wrapped itself around her body either to steal her away or to help sooth her like the rain. She shivered fiercely and wiped a rain drop from her cheek.

There was a crunch behind her; a noise she couldn't make out and then a footstep. Quickly turning around, she expected to see Albedo, Nigredo or Rubedo – or even that robed man. But stood there was a U.R.T.V. He was stood a few feet in front of her, holding the metal pole between his fingers. Emotionlessly he stared at her. He had frozen as if she had caught him doing something wrong.

Sedaytion's feet stepped back; her eyes looked at him gravely. She managed to see the number on his palm. Reading it, her eyes widened in shock. "612 …" she whispered aloud.

The U. took a step back, turning his head. It seemed he was about to walk away and Sedaytion put her hand out ahead of her.

"Wait," she ordered. Her voice was listened to, and his eyes looked at her. "I thought you were dead."

There was no response and he blankly stared at her.

"I know you can understand me!" Sedaytion yelled, coughing blood as she did. "Please. I saw you die."

"Sweet as sugar," he said.

There was a flash of lightening, turning the world white for a split second. When the light disappeared, blood was running down the forehead of the U.R.T.V. Sedaytion's eyes were widened, a gasp escaped her mouth. She held back the urge to throw up, her hand covered her mouth. After a few moments of being stunned, she opened her mouth to speak.

"What … who …" she stammered, unable to get her words.

"It's going to be okay," he told her, taking a step foreword. His eyes had changed to something somewhat comforting, yet horribly eerie. "I'll take you away."

Sedaytion took a step back as he took another foreword. Then, suddenly, he lunged for her, grabbing her left wrist. Before she had a chance to think, a flash of electricity escaped her wrist, hitting the U.R.T.V. He yelled, taking his hand back and off her skin. Whilst he was angrily trying to make his hand better, Sedaytion quickly turned around and ran as fast as her legs would let her.

Her heart began to slow down and her breathing began to decrease. Her legs disobeyed her, collapsing to the floor. In moments after her body hit the soft grass, her mind turned blank again.

"Let me see her!" Albedo yelled, pushing Nigredo out of his way. He stared at Rubedo with glowing eyes, trying to fight back the tears he had.

"Albedo, you can't," Rubedo said, shutting the medical room door behind him.

"Yes I can!" Albedo yelled. "What do you think your doing, saying I can't see her? You're not the one who makes the rules, Rubedo!"

"I don't care," Rubedo said, shaking his head. "I'm not letting you see Sedaytion."

"Rubedo!" Albedo yelled like a child about to have a fit. A tear streamed down his cheek. Nigredo apologetically looked at Albedo as he stood by Rubedo, also agreeing with his decision.

"Sorry, Albedo," Nigredo said.

"Let me see her," he yelled. "Just let me see Sedaytion!"

"No way, Albedo!" Rubedo yelled back, albeit louder. "This is your entire fault!" his words began to stab Albedo's heart, and warm tears began to stream down his face. "If you hadn't have been an idiot and fought with that U.R.T.V, we would've been able to make sure she was okay!"

Albedo took a step back from Rubedo's words; a loud moan escaped his mouth and then he sat on the floor, crying into the palms of his hands. He was upset with the way Rubedo was speaking to him – he hated when Rubedo was angry with him. And he was frightened about Sedaytion – was she dead and was it his fault? Was he really to blame?

"Stop acting like an irresponsible kid and look at your responsibilities!" Rubedo yelled. "Life is so fragile Albedo! You can't walk around thinking everyone will live and be okay."

The thoughts of him living forever and alone suddenly swamped his mind. He was still not over what he had learned a few days ago and it showed by the louder and more frequent sobbing that came from his lips.

"Albedo, stop crying," Nigredo said softly.

The door of the medical room suddenly slid open. Standing with her hand leaning on the frame was Sedaytion. Her gold and purple eyes were tired and half open. Her face was pale; her hair tied back messily. She was wearing a pair of drab U.R.T.V pyjamas, and a wire was attached to the vain on her wrist. Before she knew it, Nigredo had held of her other wrist, and was trying to pull her back into the room.

"Come on, Sed," he called. She held onto the frame.

"Why is everyone yelling?" she asked, still dizzy and disorientated.

"No one's yelling, shh," Nigredo whispered, placing a hand on her warm forehead.

Before Albedo had a chance to say or do anything, Nigredo had already dragged Sedaytion into the bright Medical room.

Nigredo took his hand from her head and held onto hers with it. Reassuringly, he smiled at her. Inside the medical room were a single bed, and a few other machines along with medicines on shelves. The light was white, making the room pretty bright. Slowly, he led her to her bed in silence. Nigredo was always soft and kind – he'd always help anyone if they needed it.

Nigredo helped her into bed, and kept hold of her hand as she stared up at the tiled ceiling. He tried to smile again at her, making sure she would feel calm.

"I'm … sorry Sedaytion," he said, looking down to the floor. "I'm so sorry."

A hand was placed on his cheek and she smiled. "You don't need to be."

"I do," he said. "If I had kept my eye on you then … your dad …"

"Nigredo, leave it," Sedaytion said. Her strange mix of purple and gold eyes looked into his green ones. "It wasn't your fault – it's his and his only."

He paused and looked at the floor again.

"I thought we were going to lose you," he said.

"Well, you didn't," she said smiling. "So stop being silly and relax. How's Albedo?"

"Bad …" Nigredo admitted. "He wants to see you …"

"Rubedo is still mad?" Sedaytion asked. Nigredo nodded. "I want to see him …"

Later that night, Nigredo and Rubedo left Sedaytion alone. The lights were switched off, all apart from the little nightlights that provided enough light to see the outlines of objects. Sedaytion lay awake, staring up at the ceiling. Her heart was thudding, and she could hear the gentle humming of the machines beside her. Her mind was clear and she felt fine. She had been given time to relax and now she wanted to go see Albedo but she knew if she got caught, she'd be in big trouble. But did that really matter?

After a few minutes of breathing deeply in the darkness, Sedaytion swung the sheets off her body. With a sharp pain, the wire was torn from her vein and she swung her legs over the bed, letting her bare toes touch the cold floor. For a moment she sat there, her hands on the soft bed, her feet on the floor. She wondered whether it would be wise to go see Albedo, or if she should stay where she was. But something inside her told her something.

He needed her.

He needed to see she was alive; just as much as she needed to make sure he was okay.

Sedaytion quickly stood up and brushed her cloths down. She smelled of fresh jasmine, her usual sent, yet that horrible sent of plasters and medication lingered on her skin. Her father refused to let her have normal medicine; instead she had to use the old stuff that worked slowly.

Silently, she pushed the button to open the door. Her head looked to the left and the right of the dark hallway. Like a child in the night looking for a midnight snack, she made sure no one was around and that she was silent. She wouldn't let herself get caught. The hall was dark took; she could only just about see the faint outline of the walls and the dark doors clinging onto them.

The little _pita patter_ of her bare feet lightly touching the floor seemed louder to her ears then normal. With each step, she tried to make it lighter and quieter then the last, hoping no one would hear. She struggled to remember where Albedo's room was: she hadn't been around the Hospital area of the building, so it was all a little bit hard for her.

Often she turned the wrong corner, and ended up having to go back. She found herself sneaking past open doors with Doctors working let into the night in the rooms once or twice. Soon it turned into a game and she was almost having a little bit of fun.

Then she found the door. Pushing the button carefully, it opened. She hesitated as it did, hoping it wouldn't make any noise, which it didn't. Inhaling deeply, she walked into the room, shutting the door behind her.

There was movement, which attracted her attention. She saw Rubedo rolling about in his sleep, as he always did. She held her hands as she approached Albedo's bed; just about being able to see his shape under the sheets. She hovered around for a moment and saw him move slightly. Biting her lip, she went to the side of the bed. Thinking he was sleeping, she placed a hand on his back as she lifted the sheets up.

His sudden jump made her jump in turn, yet she just continued to get in the same bed as him. He tried to move, but she kept him where he was: not wanting to cause a fuss – if Rubedo woke up they'd be in trouble. Sedaytion curled up in the warm blankets, hearing Albedo say her name in a confused tone. She smiled and landed a kiss on his neck.

"It's okay. Shh, go to sleep," she told him. She gently placed her hand on his cheek. "Everything's going to be alright. Promise."

He lifted his head from under his pillow, which made her smile slightly. He was okay and so was she.

The loud, almost defining bang, made Sedaytion's eyes shoot open. Her body jumped in the shock, and she found herself staring into the eyes of Albedo, who looked just as shocked as she did. His arms were wrapped around her body, and she was lying close to him, her face close to his neck. He took his hands off her body and sat up, looking around the bright, sun filled room.

"Rubedo?" Albedo asked, staring at Rubedo. He had jumped off his bed, awakening everyone in the room, including Nigredo who was looking sleepy and stunned.

"Sorry," he laughed.

Sedaytion sat up, almost blocking Albedo's view of the room. Her head was right underneath his eyes, and he could smell the scent of jasmine off her hair as well. Rubedo looked at her, not knowing what to say.

"What are you doing here?" he managed to ask. Sedaytion smirked.

"I just wanted to see Albedo," she said.

"But how did you get here without us knowing?" Rubedo asked.

"Magic powers," Sedaytion said with a wink.

Rubedo sighed, rolled his eyes and then threw his sheet that was hanging off the edge of his bed into the middle of it. Albedo looked at Rubedo as he moved about the room in an angry fashion. His slightly trembling hand was held onto Sedaytion's. She turned around and looked at Albedo.

"You okay?" she asked him. He nodded and looked down in her eyes; his hand was about to reach up and stroke her hair when he froze.

"You … your eyes …" he said, looking at them. Each eye was half gold, half pink colour which was inhuman and strange. Not even some Robots or U.R.T.V's had such strange and unusual eye shades.

"That's because her dad got to her," Rubedo sat, opening the curtains to let in more of the bright light.

"I'm so sorry Sedaytion!" Albedo cried, wrapping his arms tightly around her body. She tried to wriggle free from his firm grip.

"Albedo its okay," she assured. "They look much prettier now, don't you think? Besides, I think I looked too much like Rubedo with red hair _and_ sharp blue eyes." She felt his warm salty tears touch her neck. "Now, now, don't cry. You didn't do anything."

"I don't want you to die!" he sobbed loudly. Rubedo turned around and looked at him and her.

Like he was a child, she put his head on her chest and stroked his hair gently, trying to calm him down. A few hushes left her lips gently, and she kissed him a few times, glancing at Rubedo a few times. "Stop crying."

"But Sedaytion … I don't wanna live alone!" he wept.

"Albedo, Albedo," she said firmly, lifting his head up so he could look into her eyes. "I promise I'm not going anywhere. I promise you'll never be alone. Whatever happens, whatever you do I'll be by your side – even if you kill or even if you turn crazy – I'll be there."

Albedo looked at her and then smiled. "Okay."

After a few minutes of everyone staying in silence, Nigredo spoke.

"They'll be worried about you," he said, looking at Sedaytion. "You haven't got long until they come in here, demanding to see you."

"This isn't going to last long …" Sedaytion sighed, looking at her lap. "Robert's bit of control won't last …"

"What are you talking about?" Rubedo asked, looking at her. "You're not going to kill your dad, right?"

"Would it really matter if I did or not?" Sedaytion asked. "I hate … hate him. Bastard took everything away."

She looked down at her arm. Rolling up the sleeve of her baggy pyjamas, it revealed a little number and a small dragon printed on her skin in blue ink. It was underneath her wrist, printed near the wound she had made on her left arm. The number was 'OO3'.

"What is that?" Albedo asked, taking a closer look at her arm.

"Yesterday he printed that on me," she said. "Officially making me out to be some experiment. His last attempt to make me feel inhuman'"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven –**

**Cupid's Bullets**

_It's been exactly six months today since I started to date Albedo. I can't believe we've lasted this long, especially after all that has happened. So much has happened; I don't know where to start._

_Well, we'll start with a good note; the Encephalon dives have become much less frequent for me. I don't suppose Robert wishes to use my power for some time. Either because I'm useless, or he's trying to think of a way to use me – I hope it's the second one. I can't stand the thought of being useless. My powers have also become much stronger too; it's pretty cool! _

_Two months ago there was an accident in the dive Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo were in. I'm not sure how it happened, but a girl called Sakura was killed by U-DO. Her death has taken a toll on Rubedo – he's distanced himself from the rest of us, which is also annoying Albedo. Doctor Mizrahi was devastated at her daughters' death as well. I never got to know Sakura that well; sometimes I'd see her and smile, and she'd always smile back but we never spoke or said hi. It didn't seem as if she wanted to – the smiles she gave me were small, and she never tried to start conversation._

_The fact she was killed by U-DO has frightened me. I go near U-DO constantly, and so do all the U.R.T.V's. Thank God Albedo can't die. He hates the fact he can't and its making him mentally unstable but I know I won't be lonely. I feel so sorry for him though. He's beginning to distance himself, even from me. He just refuses to see people, and on some days he just disappears without a word. Rubedo and Nigredo have woken up with him gone, and then woken up the next day and he's in his bed – refusing to say where he's been._

A bunch of a dozen and a half red roses were suddenly dropped on Sedaytion's gold journal she was writing in. The sudden movement made her jump, and she dropped the black pen on the floor. It rolled to the other side of the room, but she completely forgot about it when she saw Albedo's smiling face. He looked proud, and quite happy; his cheeks painted a rosy pink shade.

"I got you these," he nervously said. He picked the bunch of roses back up, and waited for Sedaytion to stand up properly before putting them in her hands.

The thorns dug into her skin, but didn't pierce it. Sedaytion looked at the beautiful roses, which were wrapped together with a large, silk, red ribbon. They were a little wet in her hands, meaning they had been outside not too long ago. But where had Albedo got them? How did he buy them? Not bothering to even think of the answers, Sedaytion kissed Albedo on the cheek.

"Thank you so much!" she said, feeling herself go pink. "They're beautiful."

Albedo grinned, obviously pleased with himself for making Sedaytion happy. A little _tut_ slipped through her lips.

"I feel terrible," she said, mentally scolding herself. "I didn't get you anything. I didn't know _what_ to get you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Albedo assured. "You've made me happy by staying with me for six months." His cheeks turned bright red when he let that sentence out of his mouth. Sedaytion smiled.

"Aww that's sweet," she said, touching his arm.

Sedaytion bit her lip slightly, feeling a little awkward. She liked Albedo, but she was still slightly uncomfortable with their little 'moments' where they would stare into each others eyes, waiting for one to kiss the other properly on the lips. Escaping the eye contact, she took a step to the left and then began to walk foreword to the door quickly.

"I'd better go put these in some water," she said. "I don't want them to die."

Albedo nodded, and she left him alone in her room.

He took a step foreword and stretched his arms above his head. His eyes looked around her room; it was just like it had been when he first went into it, about seven months ago (the day he first lay a hand on her). The walls were a light pink colour, with posters of movies, bands and other random things pasted on the wall. Her bed was against the right wall, and her desk was opposite; against the large window that let her see into the park of the building. The curtains were wide open, letting Albedo look out to the world outside. The sun was dull, and rain was pouring from the skies.

He got closer to her desk, and his purple eyes looked down. On her desk were sheets with half drawn pictures on them, coloured pens were scattered across it making their own unique rainbow, and her gold diary sat happily in the middle of the mess. Then, his eyes caught a photo frame. Inside the silver frame was a picture of Sedaytion with a blonde headed woman. The woman was holding tightly onto Sedaytion, her blue eyes looking down at her. Sedaytion was obviously laughing, and it looked like someone else was in the photo but they had been scribbled out with thick black marker.

"That was dad," Sedaytion said. Her voice made Albedo jump. He nodded and then looked at another photo that was on her desk. It was one of him and her. The picture caused Albedo to laugh with a warm smile. In the photo he had his arm around her shoulders and his other hand was holding onto her hand. They were close, and he was talking to her, and whatever he had said had made her happy; extremely happy; her lips had curled into a smile. They were in the park, and, if he was remembering right, Rubedo had taken the photo.

"I have another one too," Sedaytion said, moving over to the bedside table. She picked up a picture frame with her, Nigredo, Rubedo and Albedo in the photo; all smiling. She showed it to Albedo and a weak smile spread across her face.

"Why do you have so many pictures?" he asked. She ran her fingers through her hair and shrugged.

"I guess they just remind me that we can be normal too," she admitted. "That our lives don't consist of U-DO, simulators and war."

"I wish that was true …" Albedo said, putting the frame down. "We're weapons – we're made for it: that is our life. Our only purpose is to fight." The tone in his voice had changed, showing his mental stability. Sedaytion shook her head, unsure of what to say or do – she wasn't used to Albedo acting … different.

"You're a normal kid," Sedaytion said. "You're not a weapon."

"You haven't learned anything have you?" Albedo snapped. His glowing eyes looked at her. "All we can do is fight. We're just monsters."

"No, your not!" Sedaytion yelled. Albedo laughed.

"You get angry easily; just like Rubedo," he said. "Rubedo's a monster too. But, at least he gets to have death. I have to fight forever; I have to be a monster forever."

"You're not a monster!" Sedaytion yelled.

"Why do you care if I'm one or not?" Albedo asked. "Why do you care if I think I'm one? Why do you care about me so much?"

"Because I love you," Sedaytion yelled. "You're not a weapon, you're not a monster: you're a normal teenaged kid like me but with cool powers. Okay?"

Albedo opened his mouth to speak, but Sedaytion quickly covered it with her own. She squeezed his arm gently as she kissed him. She completely forgot about him calling himself a monster, and began to mentally slap herself for suddenly kissing him – she worried he'd think she was weird or something. But, he kissed her back, and put a hand on her cheek. After a few moments she pulled away from him, and smiled at his smile.

"I love you too," he smiled. Sedaytion let a little laugh leave her lips. He kissed her again, this time passionately.

"Not interrupting am I?" a voice said, laughing. Sedaytion felt her cheeks burn up and they pulled away from each other. He put his hand on her arms, and she saw his cheek turn bright red.

Stood at the doorway with a hand on his hip and the other on his side, was Rubedo. He smirked at Albedo and Sedaytion. "Happy anniversary guys."

"Thanks," Albedo said. He took his hands off Sedaytion, and then held onto her left hand. Sedaytion smiled at Rubedo, her face still burning red.

"Are you okay, Rubedo?" Sedaytion softly asked. He nodded.

"We've got a dive today," he said. "So we'd better go get ready."

"Right," Sedaytion said. She kissed Albedo on the cheek. "Good luck."

"Sedaytion," Rubedo said, scratching his head.

"Yes?"

"You're coming too."

The City was just like it always was: the rain was falling miserably from the sky, and the noise of gunshots and screaming could be heard in the background. It was another bloody massacre she found herself in, and the only reason she was handling it was because of the fact the group leader, the executioner and her protector were at her sides. On her head was a black and silver headset, which she could use if she ever got lost from Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo. She could also contact the real world with it as well. She walked behind Nigredo and Rubedo; her skinny grey jeans were damp, along with her purple top with grey polka dot sleeves. Her hair had a slight wave to it because of the rain, and her hand was quickly found by Albedo's.

She walked across the large bridge she remembered hiding under months ago. She was trying her best to make sure the sounds of screaming and gunshots couldn't be heard. Her strange eyes stared foreword, and she had a few assuring smiles from Nigredo.

"You okay?" Albedo asked, squeezing her hand. She nodded.

"Fine," she answered.

When they crossed the bridge, Sedaytion saw a purple beam quickly fly past her. Albedo pulled her from its way, warning her not to touch them.

"They'll kill you in a flash," he said gravely. Taking his word, she nodded.

After walking a few minutes in silence, Sedaytion spoke. "What's our goal?"

"To set up a Link for the U-DO waves," Rubedo said. Sedaytion nodded.

Suddenly, Sedaytion caught someone running between the buildings. She caught their tall figure, and long blonde hair flowing behind them in the wind. She froze, and blinked a few times.

"Hey!" she suddenly called, seeing the person disappear between the buildings.

She ripped her hand from Albedo's and began to run off in the direction the person had run in. Rubedo and Nigredo stopped walking when they heard the commotion.

"Sedaytion!" Albedo yelled, chasing after her.

"Albedo, wait up!" Rubedo yelled.

Sedaytion quickly took a swift turn into a dark alley. It wasn't a wise choice and she knew that, but she had to find out who that woman was. The alley was fenced off on its sides with high metal mesh, and it was darker then the rest of the city. Albedo quickly ran down the alley, and caught her hand before she could reach the end.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked her.

"I saw her," Sedaytion said. "I saw my _mother_."

Rubedo and Nigredo didn't see the pair of them turn into the alley, and instead continued to run down the street, thinking they had gone down there.

"Albedo we have to go after her!" Sedaytion cried. He shook his head.

"It could be dangerous," he said, with a little hint of fear in his voice.

"Albedo I have this," she said, pointing to her headset. "And this," she made her hand glow a soft yellow colour; a thin bit of electricity shot out of her finger before disappearing in the air.

"And you have your own power," she said, making her hand go back to normal. "We'll be okay. Please."

He paused, and then nodded. "But if anything goes wrong …"

"Nothing will go wrong," she said, starting to walk down the alley.

For ages they searched the city, trying to find her mother but they found no one; they couldn't even find Rubedo or Nigredo, and as time drew on, less and less U.R.T.V's could be heard or seen and the city began to feel isolated and eerie.

Sedaytion held tightly onto Albedo's hand; she could feel his fear, and felt a little bit of fear herself. She gave him an assuring smile.

"Maybe they've started the mental link," she said. He shook his head.

"They can't do it without me," he said; his voice was shaking.

"I'll try and contact them," she said.

She reached up to her headset and pushed a little blue button Rubedo had told her to press if she needed to contact someone. After pressing it, she pulled the microphone down to her mouth, and then returned her arm to her side.

"Rubedo, Nigredo," Sedaytion said. They stopped walking and he watched her. "Guys, we're in the square but we can't find anyone." There was still no answer. She pushed the button a couple of more times, yet there was no answer. "Rubedo."

"Dammit!" she yelled, pushing the microphone back up and out of her way. Albedo stared at her.

"You couldn't get hold of them?" he asked. She shook her head.

"It's probably this bad weather," she said. "Rubedo probably just gave me a crummy headset."

Albedo nodded and they continued to walk the empty street. She wiped some rain water off her face and sighed deeply. "It's depressing with weather like this."

"Yeah I know," Albedo said. He looked at Sedaytion, and watched her for a few minutes. "Did you mean what you said?"

"What? When I said what?" she asked, her pink and gold eyes looked at his purple ones.

"When you said you loved me," Albedo said. "Did you mean it? Even though I'm a monster, you love me?"

"Of course I meant it," she said. "And you're not a monster."

Ignoring the second half of her sentence he nodded. "I meant it too."

Sedaytion smiled widely and then sighed. "I wonder where they are."

"They're okay though, aren't they?" Albedo asked. Sedaytion nodded.

"Of course," she said. "They can look after themselves."

They continued their walk and then Sedaytion heard something in her ear. There was a loud scream, making her jump. Albedo stared at her, worried about what was going on. She ripped the headset from her head, throwing it into a puddle. It sprayed water all over their feet, and the screaming had left her head.

"You okay?" Albedo asked. Her eyes were opened wide in fear. "What was it?"

"It's like some fucked up horror movie," Sedaytion said, taking a step back from her headset.

"What was it?" he repeated. She picked up the headset and threw it into his hands, trying to let go of it as soon as she could as if it were cursed. Albedo curiously looked at the headset, and Sedaytion pushed some hair behind her ear with her trembling hand.

A floodlight suddenly switched on, making the pair of them jump. The city could be seen better, and then they both gasped at a sight. In the centre of the square they were standing in was a six foot high cross. Strapped painfully tight to it was a beautiful, young woman.

Her head was hung in weakness: her beautiful and messy blonde hair covered most of her pale face. Her ice blue eyes were half open, and were staring down at the floor hopelessly. She was wearing a torn white dress that was drenched in her red blood. Rope was tightly wrapped around her wrists and ankles: holding her onto the wooden cross. The rope was so tight it tore her skin, making red liquid run leak from her cuts. Sedaytion could just about see a little bit of blood running from her lip.

"No!" Sedaytion screamed, knowing who the woman was. She quickly leaned her head on Albedo's wet chest, covering her eyes with her hands. Albedo slowly put a hand on her back, and he looked over at the woman on the cross.

"You … know her?" he asked, unsure of whether he wanted to know the answer of not.

Sedaytion lifted her head from Albedo's chest and she looked over to the woman. A lump appeared in her throat, which she sourly swallowed. "She's my mother."

Sedaytion stared for a few moments, unsure of whether her mother was dead or alive. It had been years since her eyes had seen her mothers beautiful face. Desperate to see her and help her, Sedaytion ran over to her, almost stumbling over as she did so. But, just as she was inches away from her mother, a force sent her falling to the floor. Stunned, she couldn't figure what had pushed her down to fiercely. She looked up, expecting to see someone there, but instead her eyes met something else.

Around her mother was a purple and black force field. It glowed evilly.

"Sedaytion!" Albedo yelled, running up to her.

He helped her up to her feet, and took her a step back from the force field. Sedaytion tried to pull herself from Albedo's grip but he would let her. Her chest hurt painfully, and her body felt really strange.

"Let me go," she demanded.

"That's U-DO Sedaytion," Albedo said, turning her around. "I'm surprised it didn't just kill you!"

"U-DO?" she asked, looking back at it. She ignored the fact U-DO hadn't killed her, or changed her like it did to the U.R.T.V's. "I've gotta get it away from mom!"

"Sedaytion you can't!" he said as she tore away from him.

Before she could get close to it, he had hold of her again. She tried to pull away but he was too strong for her. Then, she fell to the ground hopelessly. He sat on his knees, and held her close to him.

"You can't do anything for her," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

"I can …" she said, putting her left hand on the floor.

Her arm glowed a bright yellow, and a beam of energy ran deep into the ground. It emerged from underneath the U-DO. Her energy didn't destroy it; instead it sent it into the air, to hover above them in a fog. Her hand stopped glowing and Albedo started at her, stunned.

He let go of her slowly, and she quickly ran over to her mother. She began to un-do the rope holding her to the cross. She turned around to Albedo and looked at her with begging eyes. "Help me."

He stood up quickly, ran over to her and helped her bring her mothers light body down to the ground. They rested her back against the cross, letting her legs go out in front of her. Sedaytion went down onto her knees slowly, and looked at her mother who was breathing slowly. She brushed her gold hair out of her face and wiped some dirt off her soft skin.

"Is she your memory?" Albedo asked her. Sedaytion firmly shook her head.

"Never have I seen mother like this," she said.

"What's her name?" Albedo asked.

"Alison."

Her mother moved, letting a moan escape her mouth. Her head weakly tilted to the side; her bright blue eyes looked at Sedaytion, which made a few tears leave Sedaytion's eyes. When she went to the Institute, she expected to have seen her mother the next day or at least a few days later. But, as time went on all hope was lost of ever seeing her mother again, but she was here: she was there, with her hand on Sedaytion's cheek. Sedaytion had her mother back.

"Sedaytion?" her mother said. Her soft voice was like music to Sedaytion's ears.

"Yeah mom … its me …" she whispered.

"It … hurts …" her mother moaned. "It hurts so much …"

"What hurts? What hurts mom?" Sedaytion asked, beginning to panic.

"I love you … I'm sorry I … caused you so much trouble," her mother said. "I … tried … but …"

"Shh, mom stop talking," Sedaytion said. "You'll waste your energy."

"I just needed you to know I'll always be watching you," she said. "And that … I always …love you."

"Stop talking like that," Sedaytion begged. "Please stop. You're gonna be okay!"

"I'm so … proud …" she said. Her hand fell from Sedaytion's cheek. Her head hung, and she breathed out deeply. Sedaytion stared at her mother, watching as her eyes faded.

"Mom?" she whispered. There was no answer, and she waited for her to breathe again: she just had to hear her inhale for air. She waited and waited. Albedo sorrowfully looked at her, and then put his hands on her shoulders.

"She's dead Sedaytion," Albedo said. She didn't answer, and pretended she hadn't heard him.

Sedaytion put her hand on her mother's forehead, and Albedo closed his eyes, before exhaling deeply.

"She's dead," he repeated.

He helped the numb Sedaytion stand to her feet. Tears were slowly streaming from her eyes and then she turned around and looked down at her mother. She kneeled down and closed her eyes, before taking the gold necklace that was around her mother's neck. It was a locket, with a green four leaf clover printed on the outside of it. Sedaytion opened the locket, and inside was a picture of her, when she was much younger, with a boy. He had bright red hair like Sedaytion's, and his eyes were a bright shade of green. Albedo leaned over her shoulder to see the picture.

"Who is that?" Albedo asked her.

"My brother," Sedaytion said. "He's a year younger then me."

"You look like you could be twins…" Albedo said. Sedaytion sniffed and wiped a tear, or a rain drop, from her face.

He smiled at her and the floodlight suddenly switched off. Sedaytion jumped and the world turned much darker. It was as if someone was putting on a show, and it had just finished. She looked down to where her mother was sitting. In a split second she was pulled out of the Simulator, making a few more tears leave Sedaytion's eyes.

"It was him, wasn't it?" Sedaytion said, turning around to Albedo. "He killed her!"

"You can't be sure," he said.

"I can! I know he did!" Sedaytion yelled. "He killed my mom! Who else could have brought her in and out of the simulator? Who?"

Albedo took her hand and squeezed it lightly. He pulled her away from where her mother had died and they began to walk down the street. As they did, Sedaytion took the headset from Albedo and put it back on her head. She inhaled deeply; containing all the thoughts of sorrow and anger she had and smiled at Albedo.

"Let's go find Rubedo and Nigredo," she said.

The city began to liven up again and they heard the usual gunshots and screaming. Albedo pulled Sedaytion closer to him and looked down at her. _'I should fight …'_ he thought. _'I have to fight but I have to protect her. I want to protect her; for some reason I don't want to fight. I don't want her to see me as a monster.'_

"Sedaytion!" Rubedo yelled in her headset. Sedaytion froze, and pulled the microphone down to her mouth.

"Rubedo?" she asked.

"Sedaytion there's been an accident!" Rubedo cried. She could hear his voice breaking, she heard him trying to hold back the tears.

"An accident?" Sedaytion repeated. Albedo's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

"It's Nigredo," he whimpered. "He won't stop bleeding. He just … won't stop."

"Where are you?" Sedaytion asked. She heard a few shaky sobs. "Rubedo where are you?"

"The link area …"

"He's going to be okay," Rubedo said, smiling at Sedaytion. "Thanks for helping."

"I didn't do anything," she quietly said. Albedo was holding tightly on her hand. She hadn't told Rubedo what had happened to them, simply shrugging it off and changing the subject. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she felt tired as it was late at night.

Sedaytion and Albedo had found Rubedo and Nigredo just in time; he was lucky to be making a full recovery, which pleased everyone. She still didn't get to know the proper story as to how he got injured so badly: she really didn't need to know.

Albedo took Sedaytion home to make sure she was okay. They went upstairs together and the house was silent because of Helen's night work. Sedaytion sighed and switched on her table lamp. She looked over at Albedo who was stood awkwardly at the door.

"Can … you stay here …?" she asked him. He frowned.

"You want me to stay here the night?" he asked, unsure whether he understood her. She nodded.

"I don't want to be alone today," she said, holding onto the locket. "Please."

"Yeah I'll stay here," he said, nodding. "I'll just go get some cloths from my room and I'll come straight back."

Sedaytion nodded. Albedo quickly ran off and she heard the door slam behind him. With the time she had alone, she got undressed and put on her pair of soft yellow pyjamas. She tied her long, feathered hair into a loose, low, ponytail and she stretched her arms above her head. She put her old cloths in the wash basket and went over to the picture of her with her mother. She bit her lip hard and sighed deeply.

The door opened downstairs, and she heard it shut behind the person. They ran upstairs quickly, and she smiled, seeing Albedo walk into the room in his pair of uniformed pyjamas. In his hand was a fresh set of cloths for the next day, which he put on the desk chair.

"Nigredo's back in his room by the way," Albedo said. Sedaytion nodded. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she whispered. "Here, I'll set you a bed out."

She pulled out a spare mattress from under her bed, and took out a duvet and blankets from her cupboard. She put a pillow on his mattress and set out his blankets. His bed was right by hers, and he lay down in it. Sedaytion lay down in her bed and reached over to switch off her lamp.

"Goodnight," she said, turning the light off so the pair of them were engulfed in darkness.

"Night," he said.

After a few minutes, Sedaytion felt tears fall from her eyes and she began to sniff. In moments she was sobbing and she couldn't stop herself no matter what she did.

Albedo slid himself into her bed, and moved her so she rested on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat under his chest, which soothed her. He wrapped her hair around his fingers and kissed her head gently.

"Shh," he whispered.

"I can't believe she's dead," she whispered. "That bastard killed her, didn't he?"

"What happened to your brother?" Albedo asked, trying to change the subject. "Did he … die?"

Sedaytion laughed a little. "No, he's alive. We send each other letters every week."

"Letters?" he repeated, unfamiliar with the word. Sedaytion looked up at him. "It's like an e-mail, but you write. You've never heard of a letter?"

"No," he said.

"They're not very common," Sedaytion said. She quickly sat up, and reached over Albedo's body, and fumbling for the handle of her draw. She pulled it open and it was filled to the top with letters. She picked up a handful and switched on her lamp. She sat up properly, with her side leaning on Albedo's body. She handed the letters to him.

He looked at them curiously, but couldn't make out the words. The writing was neat, but the words weren't English: they were something else. Catching his confused look, Sedaytion laughed.

"They're in French," she smiled. "My brother doesn't know a word of English."

"So, you're French?" Albedo asked. It seemed as time went on and on, he was finding very interesting things out about his girlfriend.

"Oui," she said, smiling proudly. "Well, our mom is. We were brought up speaking French, but mom and dad began to teach me English after I was five. We were going to teach my brother, but then he had to be taken away so he didn't get to learn."

"Where did he go?" Albedo asked.

"Hospital," Sedaytion answered. "He had cancer for a few years. Mom couldn't deal with him getting ill, and then getting healthy to only get ill again so he was sent off to live with our aunt. He moved away when I was ten."

"What's his name?" Albedo asked.

"Elliot," she said. Albedo smiled. Sedaytion put the letters back in the draw. She switched off the light and then lay back down, leaning her head on Albedo's chest.

"Can you teach me French?" Albedo suddenly asked in the darkness.

"Yeah!" Sedaytion agreed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight –**

**La Mer**

"Don't walk away from me!" Sedaytion screamed, the tone of desperation was in her breaking voice. She swung her arm in anger, almost hitting the cold hallway wall. She took a step foreword; her father was walking away from her.

The hallway was dark, and it was late into the night. People would be resting, but Sedaytion knew from her yelling that they would soon be getting up to find out what the commotion was. For a week she had kept in those thoughts of her mother being murdered by her father, and she couldn't contain them. There was so much the poor girl had to contain throughout her life and she just let it out, struggling to only yell and not harm her father.

"I said don't walk away!" Sedaytion yelled again, making her hand touch the cold floor. In seconds her yellow and orange energy shot out of her arms, and raced over to meet her father. They spun between his legs, and stopped in front of him. The beams reached up and clung to the ceiling: blocking her father's way through the hall.

He slowly stopped walking, and looked at the bright lightning-like beams of energy that were holding him back. The hallway was lit up from her powers, and he looked over his shoulder to see his daughter. A firm look of anger was on her face, mixed with intense determination. The energy wasn't attached to her hand, but it was still glowing: showing how she was keeping the energy veil up.

"Jem, stop this stupid behaviour right now!" he yelled, turning fully around. "Do you know where we are? You can't go using your powers when you wish!"

"Stop calling me Jem!" Sedaytion yelled. "I'm not Jem anymore."

"Oh that's right …" her father said, taking a step foreword. A large, evil grin was on his face. "Ever since that incident."

A look of horror went on Sedaytion's face and she began to tremble. Her father laughed, seeing her daughter looking so frightened.

"You can't call me a monster for what I did," he said. Sedaytion firmly shook her head.

"I can," she said. "It was an accident, but you just killed her. You just killed mom!"

"I can't believe it took you this long …" he said, taking another step closer to her. "Oh well, at least that woman got to have some pain …"

"But why did you do it?" Sedaytion asked.

Her father turned around and took a few steps closer to the electric veil Sedaytion was still keeping up. A large smirk went across his face, and he put his hand to the energy. He could feel the heat from her powers; he could sense the strength of her. He exhaled deeply.

"I have created …" he said. "Such magnificent power …"

Gold tendrils began to swirl out of the veil as Sedaytion made her power stronger. Her father smiled and laughed evilly.

"You're planning to kill me," he whispered. "Can you really deal with another set of blood on your hands?"

"I'll only have your blood," Sedaytion said. "Because the first person was an accident."

She began to make the energy larger, and it began to get closer to her father. The heat from her power was getting stronger, yet her father didn't move.

"You're not going to run?" she asked him.

"I've made my mark," he said. "And that is you. You were made to create destruction and death. You can't help it – even now you're dying to kill me. Your blood is boiling, and you heart is begging to destroy me."

"You're lying …" she whispered.

"You love when you dive into the simulator," he said. "You love to watch them die."

"Shut up!" Sedaytion yelled. Her hand began to glow brightly, and her hands were trembling from anger.

"It's a good thing Albedo can't die, isn't it?" her father said. "You two will have so much fun when he turns crazy. When he craves for death, like you."

"Shut up! You're talking nonsense!" Sedaytion screamed.

"When he called himself a monster," he said. "He should've called you one too. You're a _monster_."

Sedaytion took a few steps back. She tried to stop her power from working, yet she couldn't. She had gotten it to stop growing, yet she couldn't stop using it all together – it refused to listen to Sedaytion, instead it wanted to hurt her father. "Stop it …" Sedaytion said.

Her father began to laugh. "You monster. Just let it go Sedaytion: let it go."

"Sedaytion!" a voice called. Sedaytion turned her head, and running up to her was Nigredo. He was staring at her with wide eyes, and then he ran up to her.

He firmly took her left arm, trying to pull her away from her father. "You'll kill him if you don't go away."

"She wants to kill me," her father said. "You can't stop her. No one can stop her."

"Sedaytion, stop it," Nigredo said, looking at her in the eyes. Her eyes desperately looked back at him, but then she shook her head.

"I … can't …" she whispered.

"You can," he said assuring. "Just breathe."

Sedaytion breathed in, and then tried to pull the energy back. She breathed out and then breathed deeply in again. Her heart began to hurt, and her arm was beginning to ache. But it was working; her energy grew weaker and weaker, until there were a few bits of static electricity hanging in the air. Nigredo took her hand and squeezed it.

"You did it," he said.

Suddenly, her father began to laugh evilly. "It's not over yet."

Sedaytion turned around and looked at him. In his hand was a pistol, and immediately she thought he was going to shoot her but then he brought the gun to his head.

"I was going to die either way," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "But I guess now you can't have the pleasure of killing me yourself."

There was a sudden bang, and Sedaytion fell backwards at the sight. Nigredo caught her before she could hit the floor and she began to cry, and she held her hand to her mouth to try and she held back the urge to vomit at the horrific sight.

"Here's a cup of hot chocolate, darling," Helen said, placing the steamy white mug on the wooden table in front of Sedaytion.

Sat opposite the memorized girl was Rubedo, and by him was Nigredo. Albedo was sat close to Sedaytion. He had her hands on her shoulders and was rubbing them gently. He kept giving her a small kiss on her cheek every five minutes, which made her turn red.

"Am I still going to live here?" Sedaytion asked, looking at Helen with hopeful eyes.

"Of course darling," she said, smiling. "Robert wasn't your legal guardian anyway. He hasn't been for the past three years."

"Three years?" Sedaytion repeated. "I've been here for three years?"

"Yes," she said. Helen lightly laughed. "It seems everything has happened over the last few months though."

"Yeah …" Sedaytion said, returning her eyes to the un-appealing drink. She didn't feel like drinking and she didn't feel like eating. She had the strange urge to go home, but she was home. It was peculiar, and she wouldn't let her mind dawdle on it. She hated thinking deeply about things.

"Why did you go after him?" Rubedo asked, looking at her with slightly angry eyes.

"Rubedo!" Albedo snapped, giving his brother an evil look. "She has her reasons."

"What? To almost kill someone?" Rubedo asked.

"She has her reasons!" Albedo repeated, still unsure of whether Sedaytion wanted to let anyone know what happened in the simulator. "Don't snap at her like that! You're more evil then she ever could be so don't accuse her of anything!"

"Stop it!" Sedaytion yelled. She stood up quickly, knocking the drink onto the floor. The mug smashed and the hot liquid ran across the kitchen floor.

"Just stop arguing because you're making the situation so much worse!" she yelled, clenching her fists. "So unless you want to fight and prove that we are monsters, I suggest you all just shut your mouths and leave it!"

As she lifted her hand and swung it back down in anger, a large beam of gold electricity left her hand uncontrollably. The beam hit the floor between her chair and Albedo's; almost hitting him. Everyone froze and Sedaytion stared down where her power had disappeared. A tear streamed down her face and then she quickly ran away, kicking her chair over as she did so.

"Sedaytion!" Albedo called, standing up. He looked down at his brother. "Her father killed her mother – we saw her die in the Simulator."

"Her father …" Nigredo began. "Kept calling her a monster. He said that he made her to be a monster. That her only purpose was to be destruction."

"What?" Albedo said, looking down at Nigredo. "He called her a monster?"

"Yeah," Nigredo said. "He was talking as if she was slowly becoming attached to death."

"This is crazy," Rubedo said, shaking his head. "You cant' change someone so much."

"Sedaytion is Sedaytion," Albedo said, closing his eyes. "No matter what he tries to do, she'll always be herself."

Quickly, he moved her chair that was on the floor out of the way and left the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Rubedo called.

"To find her!" Albedo replied.

"I'll help you clear up," Albedo heard Nigredo sheepishly say. His words made him slightly sick in his stomach and he frowned at his kindness.

The park was dark, and walking into the forest area was much eerier then usual, yet it didn't frighten Albedo. He walked in the silent forest, keeping his eye out for Sedaytion. Then his eyes met her. She was leaning her back against a large tree; her knees pulled tight up against her chest. They were being held there by her thing arms. Her red hair covered most of her body, and her head rested on her knees. He could hear her breathing deeply, trying to contain her tears.

"I'm sick of this," her muffled voice said. Albedo looked down at her, and took a step closer to her. "I'm sick of going through so much pain … I'm sick of the death …"

She lifted up her head and looked up at Albedo. "But I can't help _liking_ it all." Tears suddenly streamed down her face as if someone switched on a tap. In seconds Albedo was at her side, resting her head on his chest like a child. He soothed her, putting his hand over her eyes.

"Don't cry, ma rouge calmant," he said, using some of the French she had taught him. "Hush now."

"I'm sorry," she said, sniffing. Albedo held her closely and Sedaytion smiled at his warmth.

"Ignore your father," he said. "He's the monster not you."

Later that night Albedo stayed with Sedaytion, and rested in her bed with her. She sighed deeply, her eyes stared up at the black ceiling. She felt much calmer then she had a few hours ago, all thanks to Albedo. She smiled.

"We should go to the sea once day," he randomly whispered in the darkness. "What is the French word for sea?"

"La mer," Sedaytion answered.

"It'd be the perfect day," Albedo said. Sedaytion smirked.

Sedaytion breathed in deeply, and then began to sing in a whispery, yet beautiful voice.

"La mer,  
>Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs,<br>A des reflets d'argent,  
>La mer,<br>Des reflets changeants,  
>Sous la pluie"<p>

She took a break and looked up at Albedo who was greatly intrigued by her singings. She laughed and sat up properly. "I used to sing that as a kid. It goes on, but I don't suppose you want to hear it."

"I do!" Albedo insisted, sitting up properly. Sedaytion rested her back against the wall and looked at him, trying to see if he was lying or not. "I'll even sing with you."

"You don't know the song," Sedaytion laughed. Albedo smirked.

"I'm a good learner," he said, winking.

Sedaytion rolled her eyes, keeping her smile on her face. She reached over to her lamp and turned it on. She opened the draw and searched through all the letters, and then came across a yellow, old piece of paper. Wrote on it were the lyrics to her song, written in French with the English meaning underneath in a different colour.

She moved over by Albedo, and put the piece of paper in between them. She looked at him expectantly and waited patiently for him to finish reading it. He nodded, not letting his eyes leave the paper and Sedaytion drew in a deep breath.

"La mer," she began, she looked at Albedo who started a moment after her. She smiled. "Qu'on voit danser voit danser le long des golfers clairs."

As they sung, his eyes wouldn't leave the paper. Sedaytion smiled. He was singing with her, even though he was quieter then her. After the first stanza she stopped.

"You're doing really well," she said. He smiled. "Ready?" he nodded, still looking at the paper.

"_La mer  
>Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs<br>A des reflets d'argent  
>La mer<br>Des reflets changeants  
>Sous la pluie<em>

_La mer  
>Au ciel d'été confond<br>Ses blancs moutons  
>Avec les anges si purs<br>La mer bergère d'azur  
>Infinie<em>

_Voyez  
>Près des étangs<br>Ces grands roseaux mouillés  
>Voyez<br>Ces oiseaux blancs  
>Et ces maisons rouillées<em>

_La mer  
>Les a bercés<br>Le long des golfes clairs  
>Et d'une chanson d'amour<br>La mer  
>A bercé mon coeur pour la vie<em>"

Sedaytion laughed when they had done. She looked at Albedo and smiled. For a moment they stayed like that: just smiling at each other. Still nervous, Sedaytion broke the contact by placing the piece of paper on the table.

"Hey, Sedaytion?" Albedo called.

"Yeah?" Sedaytion asked, turning her head.

Before she knew it Albedo was kissing her. He flicked up her chin with his finger, and put a hand on her thigh. Sedaytion felt her heart beat quickly, and her face turned bright red. She was frozen for a few seconds, feeling completely stunned by his move and completely stupid. When he had finished kissing her, he smirked at her red face. He put a finger on her lip and grinned, a little flash of evil shone in his eyes.

"Je vous aime, ma rouge calmant," he seductively whispered. Sedaytion bit her lip, unsure of whether she should smile from his words, or move away because of his tone.

He was about to kiss her again, but Sedaytion acted quickly by putting the pillow in front of her face, which shocked him a little. She leaned back as she did so, and his head hit the soft material.

"What are you doing?" he asked with his usual confused tone. He moved the pillow out of his way, throwing it on the other side of the bed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sedaytion said, giving him a quick smile. She forced herself to yawn and then she reached to switch off the light so the pair of them were in darkness. "I'm tired. Let's go to sleep."

Sedaytion suddenly woke up a few hours later. The room was still dark; the sun was still not out. She felt a cold sweat on her forehead, and her breathing had increased. She was lying on Albedo, her head on his chest to hear his heartbeat. When she had woken up, so had he and he was looking down at her, starting to stroke her hair.

"You okay?" he asked. "Bad dream?"

"Yeah …" she whispered. After a moment of blinking to clear her head, she looked up at him. "You won't go back on our promise, will you?"

"Never," he promised. "Never ever: I'll always stay with you."

"Thanks …" she whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine –**

**Medicine Cures All**

Albedo scribbled his words down quickly on the white piece of paper that was soon being covered in messy, wobbly writing and splotches of blue ink. His hand moved quickly; moving the pen in the direction he wanted it to go in. His hand felt weird as the activity was unfamiliar to him – he had never written anything in his life. The only thing he remembered writing was his number 667 and that had been years and years ago. The words on his paper were just about readable; it was a French piece. He had become quite fluent in the language Sedaytion had begun to teach him a couple of weeks ago.

He was sat in his room at the table; the bright sunlight leaked in happily through the window; spreading its joy with the world. The table was a mess with a few scrunched up pieces of paper, and some had been angrily torn in pieces in his little fits of child-like rage.

Albedo's hand froze as he felt the presence of Rubedo. He could feel his eyes looking nosily over his shoulder; interested in what he was doing. "Go away, Rubedo," Albedo said, pulling the paper close to him so Rubedo couldn't see the words (even though he wouldn't be able to understand them if he saw them or not). "I'm busy."

"What are you doing?" Rubedo asked, tilting his head.

"I'm writing a French letter to Sedaytion," he said.

"French? Since when did you know French?" Rubedo asked.

"Sedaytion's been teaching me," Albedo replied. "She's teaching me about Christianity, too."

Albedo quickly stood up, and turned the paper over so Rubedo couldn't see the writing. He went over to his bed, and pulled out a few books. One was The Bible, the other was the Unlondon book that she was reading when he first met her, and there was another one in French called La Rose Princesse.

"She gave me some books," he said. "She's really clever, Rubedo!"

"How's she holding up?" he asked him. Albedo sighed deeply.

"Okay, I think," he said. "She can contain herself really easily, y'know? So sometimes it's a little hard to understand her … I want to help her Rubedo – I really do!"

"I know you do, Albedo," Rubedo said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're helping her by being by her side and by keeping her occupied."

Sedaytion quickly ran out of the Medicine closet. The closet was filled with hundreds of different medicines and vaccines. She had stolen some herself, and was quickly shoving the bottles of tablets, liquids and syringes into her bag as she left the room. As she left the room, she was greeted with Nigredo. His arms were folded; his back leaned against the cold wall and it seemed he was waiting for her and guarding the room she had been in.

The teeth of her bag moaned as she zipped them together, firmly closing her white backpack. Nigredo shut the door behind Sedaytion and they quickly walked down the hall, to make sure no one would catch them near that room. Only high doctors were allowed to go near the Medicine closet.

"You're going through with it then?" Nigredo asked her when they turned the corner. Their pace slowed and Sedaytion nodded.

"Can't hurt me, so why not do it?" she asked, swinging the bag over her shoulder. The bottles knocked together making a loud noise. Nigredo sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win the fight so he didn't even try. Sedaytion was always determined and if she had her mind set on something that was it – there'd be no changing it. That's what he had learned over the few months he knew her and he liked her determination.

"Robert's funeral is tomorrow," she said, smiling at a U.R.T.V as they passed him. "Can't believe its been a week since he died. I can't even believe he's dead – nothings changed."

Sedaytion quickly went home and dropped her bag off in her room, before meeting up with Rubedo and Nigredo in the park. The air was refreshingly warm, and the sun was happily out. The weather on Vartas was so unpredictable, but it would always make the warm, sunny days more memorable and meant they appreciated them more. It was just too bad she wasn't allowed to leave the Institute walls – she was kept prisoner there, just like the U.R.T.V's.

"Where's Albedo?" Sedaytion asked as she approached her friends. Her bright red hair seemed brighter in the sunlight and her pink and gold eyes flashed beautifully as she looked at Nigredo. She smirked as she saw him turn a little strange shade of red.

"He went to do an errand," Rubedo said. "He'll be back soon."

Sedaytion nodded. She waited for Albedo to return, and for the rest of the day they laughed and joked around. It was another day where there were no deaths, no dives and no fights. For once they felt normal, yet the words of her father clung to the back of her head and she couldn't shake them away. She patiently waited for the night, where she could finally get rid of them.

The night came quickly and Sedaytion found herself in her room, once again. The house was silent and Helen slept peacefully in her own, soft bed. The light in Sedaytion's room was dim, and she was pacing around; her hands fallen limply to her sides. Her mind was confused, and the little bit confusion and determination was in her stomach. She was torn between two choices; one she wanted to agree to so badly, yet she still worried. What if it went wrong? Or what if it didn't work?

"This is stupid," Sedaytion scolded herself. "You've done this so many times before."

She picked the bag up off her floor, and dumped it onto her soft bed. She undid the zip and emptied the contents of the bag on her bed. There were half a dozen bottles of liquid, and half a dozen of red and white pills. She had a handle of clean, new syringes and she picked one up. She tore the paper off, and took the syringe from where it had been resting. She quickly, without thinking, opened the bottle with the liquid medicine and sucked the foul smelling vaccine into the syringe. She closed the lid, throwing the bottle on the bed. It landed softly so it didn't break, and she stared at the medicine.

"This is it," she whispered, putting the needle near the vain on her left arm. She hesitated and her hand began to tremble.

"_You can't do it, can you?_" an o-so familiar and unwelcoming voice said. The voice crawled up her spine, making her shiver.

Sedaytion turned her head, unsure of whether she wanted to see who was in her room or not. Her heart thudded and her eyes widened. Stood, leaning on her desk was her dad. He was grinning evilly at her. His body looked untouched, as if he hadn't died. But that was impossible! He did die: she saw him shoot himself. She saw it all – she nearly murdered the man herself. Sedaytion blinked hard a few times, hoping he was just an illusion but he didn't disappear: instead he laughed deeply.

"_You don't want to do it,_" he said. He suddenly yelled at her, standing up properly. "You're weak! I never created you to be weak!"

"Then tell me how to act, _dad_!" Sedaytion screamed, throwing the syringe to the floor. "You tell me how to act: you've lied all this time and suddenly you want me to change?"

"I don't want you to change," he yelled. "You are changing whether you wish for it or not."

"No I'm not!" Sedaytion yelled. She picked the syringe back up and put the needle on her skin, above her blue vain. "I'll stop it – I'm not going to addicted to death or be a monster."

"It won't work," he laughed.

Sedaytion pushed the needle into her skin, almost missing her vein. She gasped in slight pain as the needle pushed its way into her vein. She pushed down the syringe; emptying the liquid into her blood. When it had gone, she ripped the syringe fiercely from her skin and then threw it to the floor. She felt the liquid in her vein as it moved around. She breathed out deeply, letting all the anger disappear. She looked at her father, who was turning into a faint figure. His body was disappearing, and she knew it had only been a cruel illusion her mind had been pulling on herself: just to push her into doing it.

"Bye," Sedaytion whispered as his figure disappeared. She looked down at her arm and a sigh of relief left her lips. "It's … _over._"

As she lay in her bed, her hand moved under her pillow. Her fingers met with a cold, fragile thing and for a moment she wondered what it was. She squeezed it, and the thing crunched gently under her fingers. Sedaytion lifted her head and lifted up the pillow. Sitting neatly there was an envelope with the words '_Ma rouge calmant'_ wrote messily on it. Sedaytion's lips instantly curled into a smile, and her heart began to thump quickly.

Gently, she opened the letter and pulled out the tatty piece of paper. She smiled at Albedo's child like and messy handwriting. He wrote the French words perfectly, even though his handwriting was a mess. He described how much he loved Sedaytion, and how he was grateful to her for just being there at his side.

"Merci de me sourire le matin," Sedaytion read, smiling to herself. "Merci de me pardonner quand je vous ai frappés."

Her cheeks began to glow red, and her smile didn't leave her face as she read the last sentence. "Je vous aimerai pour toujours."

She put the letter back in the envelope and smiled to herself.


	10. Chapter 10

**End of Childish Days**

Sedaytion yawned loudly, blinking a few times as the newly risen sun glared down on her beautiful ice blue eyes. Rubbing them gently, she let another yawn leave her lips. Her head shook slightly; her eyes gazed upwards to the sky. Puffs of white cloud floated dreamily through the air; the rays of the blinding sun shone done to provide the world with its light, with trees trying to block its way to the ground. A soft, warm breeze ran through the trees, making the weak leaves sway slightly.

The girl's skin felt warm, yet sore from resting on the hard gravel path. Pushing herself up with weirdly numb hands, Sedaytion saw the world more clearly. She was sitting upright in the middle of a light forest, with the sound of a trickling river nearby. But how strange that was! There was no place like that at the Institute, was there? And where on earth had she brought the beautiful, thin, short white dress that she was casually wearing? She looked down, her red hair didn't fall down to cover her chest as it usually did. Her finger fumbled her head, feeling her thick locks had been pulled up into a neat bun.

Her eyes returned down, to her bare feet in which her nails had been painted red. Her finger nails had too been painted red: a sharp colour of blood. She pushed her lips together, then pushed her legs up to stand straight. She brushed off the pieces of dust and gravel that had been left on her cloths then looked ahead of her.

There was no sense of fear or a feeling for alarm in her veins. Instead she felt almost at home, like she belonged to be there. Her mind also felt numb; as if she were not to care if there was a fire or something bad happening. It was strange, unusual.

"_Sedaytion …"_ the o-so familiar voice whispered in her ear made her jump. The voice felt so close, she could even hear their breath tickle her skin, but when she turned her head in the direction there was no one there.

The memories of her life suddenly flooded to her as she realised who the voice belonged to. It was none other then Albedo Piazzolla; U.R.T.V number 667, also known as her boyfriend. Sedaytion took a quick step foreword, but then froze almost as suddenly at an unknown sight in front of her.

"Jem, your name is Jem, correct?" the woman who stood in front of her asked.

The woman was strange; her hair was pure white and was almost the same length as Sedaytion's but was as straight as a pin. Her bangs had been pulled back, to show her pale face more clearly. Her eyes were a shade of pink, soft and delicate; showing curiosity and slight amazement. The woman stood higher then the short Sedaytion, with her hands in hand. She was wearing a dress exactly the same as Sedaytion's, but hers was the shade of red that was painted on Sedaytion's finger nails. As Sedaytion looked closer, she could see her nails were painted pure white, like her own dress.

"May I speak with you?" the woman asked, taking a step foreword. "I saw you at the City; I thought I had seen a ghost."

The woman stood in front of Sedaytion, and placed a frail hand under her eyes, close to touching her skin.

"You look so much like her," she said. "You have your mothers eyes; her face yet you in-herniated the fiery head from your father."

"State your business," Sedaytion demanded as fierce as she could, taking a step away from the woman, who laughed.

"It seems you have in-heriniated more then just the fiery hair from him," she smirked. Sedaytion shook her head.

"Who are you?" she asked, ignoring her comment un-intentionally.

"I'm your other half," the woman said. "We have both been kept in bondage."

Sedaytion frowned, taking yet another step back. She wanted to get away from such a strange woman, but something inside of her stopped her from running.

"We're closer then you think," she said, lifting up her left wrist. Printed on her skin were the same dragon and the number '001' in blue ink.

Sedaytion's eyes widened in fear mixed with a strange sense of amazement. So there were other experiments, but what was she doing here? Was she dead and was she haunting her?

"You can learn from all I've failed at …" the woman sadly said. "You have to do all you can do; use your powers for their potential."

"You mean, in the good way, right?" Sedaytion asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That is not what they were made for," the woman said. "Would you wish to learn of the story? Would you wish to learn how we truly became to be like this?"

"Wait," Sedaytion said, lifting up her hands. "Just tell me who you are first."

"Imogen," the woman said. "My name is Imogen, and I died four years ago, but do not be alarmed."

Sedaytion's eyes widened, and she swung her arm. "Do not be alarmed? What the hell?" she yelled loudly; her mind suddenly jumped into reality and she urged to know where she was and who Imogen truly was as well. "Where the hell are we? Am I dreaming?"

"We are in an Encephalon Dive," Imogen said calmly. "I've been programmed into the Computer of the Institute, where it connects with you."

"Connects with me?"

"Yes," Imogen nodded. "When you have the Dives, and when they had the program to put the chip inside of you."

"But, you're dead," Sedaytion frowned. "You just said so."

"My mind still goes on in this form," she said. "I have been watching you. I have … made so many mistakes, which is why I have been damned to such hell, but you can do what we were made to do – you can do it."

"Do what?" Sedaytion yelled. "Kill people and destroy places? I'm not a weapon."

"You are," Imogen said, shaking her head. Her pink eyes looked down to the floor. "I was too. We are the same, so you must do the right thing."

"We're not the same," Sedaytion said, shaking her head. "See?" she pointed to their cloths. "We may have the same concept in cloths, but we have opposite colours. We are opposite."

"Silly girl, comparing it to fabrics," Imogen said, shaking her head. She put a finger on her lip, then looked at Sedaytion; grinning at her with an evil smirk. "There's nothing you can do, anyway. That medicine doesn't work. You're blended in with the chip."

"You're lying," Sedaytion said, denying the words.

"They just want destruction," she whispered. "And that is what you must provide them with."

"No!" Sedaytion said, taking yet another step back. A smile appeared on her face. "Like you can do anything to harm me. If I am as powerful as you all make out, then no one can force me into anything."

"You plan to kill us? Hurt us?"

"Only if it's necessary,"

"You want to."

"No."

"You want to hear our bones crackle …" she said. "I do too; stop denying it."

"Stop it!" Sedaytion yelled.

"You're like Rubedo …" Imogen smirked. "But I guess you've been told this already, yes?"

Sedaytion stayed silent. Her fingers fumbled at the hem of her dress, her lips pursed together.

"There isn't much you can do anymore, so don't deny it," Imogen said.

Sedaytion opened her eyes quickly, awakening in the normal world. Her eyes were back to the beautiful gold and pink, filled with confusion and dismay. She blinked a few times, gathering her thoughts and emotions she had. She felt the softness of her sheets above her body, and the soft mattress below her. Her eyes stared across her dark room. Her curtains were open, letting her see the dark, eerie park and black sky with its cold stars.

Sedaytion's eyes looked to the side, to see the time. It was half four in the morning. She yawned, pushing herself to sit up properly; she couldn't be bothered to fall back to sleep. Her red hair fell down her face, but soon was brushed behind her ear messily. She looked at her wrist, with the picture of the dragon on it and stared.

How she wanted to try out her powers, yet she didn't want to. She was frightened, in case they did work, then what would happen? That would leave so many questions … but it would give so many answers. Before she knew it, her hand was glowing the yellow it normally did. A spark left her middle finger, slowly floating in the air before disappearing.

Sedaytion's head hung, she breathed in then left it out after a minute. Weakly, she rubbed her face before letting her hand stop glowing. A groan left her throat, and then she pushed the sheets off her body. Sedaytion walked over to her window in silence, pressing her face against the cold glass. The cold ran up her skin, making her shiver as if to shake off all the horrible thoughts and feelings. Her eyes looked down to the park; she watched the leaves sway in the wind. A deep sigh left her lips, her mind began to wonder about things.

"Had it all been a dream?" she asked herself. When she spoke, her breath left a white fog on the window, which evaporated into the air after a few moments.

There was a knock at her door, making her turn her head quickly. The door began to slowly slide open, letting in a faint orange light from the hall. She could see Albedo slowly edging his way into her room, a look of concern on his face.

He hadn't noticed her at the window and it took him a few moments for his purple eyes to find her. The corners of his mouth creased upwards into a smile, and he stepped into her room, shutting the door behind him. He was again wearing his uniform, as he always did. His eyes showed tiredness; did that mean he had been up all night?

"What are you doing here?" Sedaytion asked, taking her face from the window.

"I thought something was wrong," he answered. "So I came to make sure you were okay."

Sedaytion frowned. "What makes you think something's wrong?"

"Nothing," Albedo said, looking slightly embarrassed. "You'd think it's stupid."

Sedaytion paused, unsure of a counter. She shook her head, ending that conversation, and asked him a question. "Do you know a girl called Imogen?"

"Imogen?" he repeated, tasting the name.

"Yeah," Sedaytion nodded. She put a finger on her lip and looked down at the floor. "There was another experiment, like me, who was called Imogen."

"Maybe you should ask Rubedo," Albedo suggested.

"Have you been up all night?" Sedaytion asked, taking a step closer to Albedo. He nodded, but shook his head after.

"I tried sleeping, but I…" he shook his head sharply. "Does it really matter?" his snap made Sedaytion hesitant to step foreword again.

"I was only asking you a question," Sedaytion said quietly. A memory quickly flooded into her head; when he held her by her neck, threatening to kill her. She could remember the pain of his hit on her face so well, her cheek began to tingle. She took a step back, slightly fearful of him hurting her again, like he had when they met.

Sure they were in love, unlike then, but Albedo was in fact turning crazy, which even she couldn't deny.

After the moment of silence, she spoke. "I took the medicine, to stop it working," she quietly began. He stared at her, listening to her words. "But … the medicine didn't work, and I know that because Imogen told me. She said I was just like her; that I have to carry out what she failed at."

She paused, looking at Albedo. "Are you mad at me, or something?"

"No," he simply answered.

"Then why did you snap? Why are you being so silent?" she asked him.

"We have to go to Militia," he quickly said. His eyes immediately hit the floor when he finished his sentence.

"Miltia …?" Sedaytion repeated. "Why?"

"To connect with U-DO," Albedo answered.

"For real?" Sedaytion asked, her eyes wide.

Albedo managed to give her a slight nod, and immediately tears began to fall from his eyes uncontrollably. Sedaytion quickly moved over to him, wrapping her arms around his toned body. She held tightly onto him, letting his head rest on her shoulder. She hushed him soothingly a few times, telling him everything would be okay but she knew her words could not get rid of his fear of U-DO. Even though he couldn't die, Albedo was terrified.

He held tightly onto her, as if it would be the last time he would see her. For some reason he felt like something was going to go wrong. He had trust in Rubedo, their leader, but something in his stomach was telling him it would end up bad. His fingers seeped into her soft hair, brushing her red locks. His tears fell onto her shoulder, making her pyjama's slightly wet.

"You'll go out for the day," Sedaytion said. "And you'll be back home before you know it, thinking about how much you achieved and how it was fun."

There was silence apart from the few sobs that left Albedo's mouth.

"Please don't cry," Sedaytion said, resting her head on his chest. She listened to his forever pounding heartbeat that provided her with so much comfort.

"You'll be okay," Sedaytion assured.

It was later that day, she, Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo stood in the hallway, about to leave for their trip. She was holding tightly onto Albedo's hand; he was refusing to let go. His palm was sweaty from the stress; his eyes were still puffy and red from crying. He could feel his heart pounding quickly, and butterflies had filled his stomach. He gave Sedaytion a deep kiss, before hesitating to let go of her fingers. He pulled away slowly, walking towards the door.

"I'll be back soon," he told her, standing by Rubedo.

"We won't be long," Nigredo said, nodding.

"You better not be," Sedaytion said, winking.

Rubedo went over to Sedaytion, giving her a quick hug. However, before they parted he whispered something in her ear.

"I'll bring him back," he promised. "Without a scratch."

"I know," Sedaytion whispered. "I trust you."

He pulled away from her, smiling widely. Gently, he hit his chest. "See you in a bit!"

"See ya," Sedaytion smiled. He walked away, opening the door.

Sedaytion waved as they left, Albedo kept his eyes on her as long as he could. Then, before she knew it she was stood in the hall, all alone, waiting for them.

Sedaytion stood in the Observation room. Many Doctors and Scientists were in there; staring at Computer screens, handing out sheets and talking about the U.R.T.V's. Helen was there too; keeping a headset on, listening carefully to what was going on. There was so much going on in that room, Sedaytion found it amazing that they all knew what each other was doing. She had been stood there for a few hours, waiting to hear from Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo. All the adults had told her everything was going according to plan and that there was nothing to worry about; they were U.R.T.V's after all, and they knew exactly what they were doing.

Sedaytion found it hard to just sit and wait; or even stand. She found herself pacing around the room, often getting in someone's way. She had been ordered to sit down a number of times by the adults, but she never stayed seated for more then a few minutes. Her legs had minds of their own, and she even found herself twisting her fingers, sometimes painfully. She waited, just waited for something; she waited for the word that they were coming home.

"U.R.T.V's are setting up the Mental Link," a woman's voice said.

Sedaytion quickly turned her head to a brunette, who was holding a spare headset in her hand. Softly, the woman held out the headset to Sedaytion. "Would you care to listen?"

"Thanks," Sedaytion said, nodding with a smile.

She took the headset from the woman, and sat down at a screen. Through the blurred, poor quality video footage, she could see them setting up; Albedo clung tightly to Rubedo. Sedaytion put the headset on, being able to hear Rubedo speaking.

"Come on, come on," Sedaytion mumbled, her face getting closer to the screen.

She watched as Rubedo put Albedo's arm up, which made her smile. Everything was going perfectly; the link had been set up and the U-DO beams were being prevented, but she could just about see an expression of horror on Rubedo's face. She watched as his hand lowered from the link.

"No!" she suddenly yelled out.

She heard in the background the commotional Doctors and Scientists, yet she couldn't care for her side of the world. Her hands were on the table and she had stood up suddenly. She knew what Rubedo was doing.

He was breaking the link.

He was going to put all the others at danger! Including Albedo! She stared in horror, watching Albedo try and stop Rubedo. But it was too late; Albedo and Rubedo's hands split, and the link had gone. The U-DO waves were out of control, hitting other U.R.T.V's.

"Damn you, Rubedo!" Sedaytion suddenly yelled, slamming her fists on the table.

Then a U-DO wave flew into the air, aiming to hit Albedo. Before she knew it, the purple beam hit him, and she heard his scream run through her ears. Quickly, she tore off the headset, so she couldn't hear him then her screen went blank. The world turned silent, but she knew people were moving in the background at a fast pace. Sedaytion felt numb, her legs stumbled backwards, and she sat in the chair. Like a doll, she stayed seated; her eyes emotionlessly stared foreword.

Was Albedo … dead?

After what seemed like forever, Sedaytion was quickly swept away from the room by Helen. The next few hours were a blur, but she remembered drinking lots of hot chocolate, and she remembered biting her nails. Helen was talking seriously to her, placing a hand on her face, but none of her words went through. Nothing made sense and it was like she was in a nightmare.

"There have been no records of U.R.T.V number 667 being recovered," the man slowly whispered.

"Oh God no …" Sedaytion cried, covering her mouth with her hand. Tears began to suddenly pour from her eyes, and her heart skipped a beat. Her legs collapsed, and she screamed into her hand, biting down at her skin so hard she pierced it.

Everything that had happened, everything they had planned; every thought she had of them spending there lives together was wasted. It was over; there would be no more laughing with Albedo, there would be no more singing and no more assurance. There would be no more Albedo and Sedaytion walking hand in hand.

Her world came crashing down before her and she didn't know how she was going to pick herself up again. She didn't even know if she could.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven –**

**Race The Clock With Me!**

**Four Years Later**

***my lamest chapter ever, but I needed to put this in quickly. I hate big time differences lol. Sorry ^^;***

The redhead twirled the gun skilfully around her fingers, letting the dangerous weapon get used to her grip. Quickly, the girl pointed it up, and began to shoot the red circled targets that were quickly appearing in the space ahead of her. With each pull of the trigger meant another perfect shot, and after a few gunshots, her lips curled upwards into a proud smile. She had succeeded in destroying all the targets in the shooting range. When the red light switched off, showing her session had ended; she reluctantly put the safety on the weapon, and then returned it to the holder around her slim waist. The gun rested happily in the velvet holder on her black belt that was wrapped around her dark jeans.

The red quickly turned around, about to leave, but as she put her hand on the door, a screen to her right turned on, taking her attention.

"That was some good work out there, Clementine," a gruff voice commented. On the screen was her Sergeant, wearing his red and black uniform. His chocolate hair stuck out on all ends. "Can't wait to see your skill's in action on the real field."

"Can't wait to use them on the field, Sir," she smirked. Her gold and pink eyes winked.

She spent a moment running her hand through her shoulder length hair, which felt too short for her liking. It was still hard to get used to such a length; Sedaytion Clementine had always had extremely long hair.

"Did you find out about the U.R.T.V's?" Sedaytion asked quietly. Her eyes gazed down, almost unwilling to see his expression; knowing it would be one of sorrow for her.

"No, sorry Sedaytion," he apologized. She heard him sigh roughly. "Struggling to, y'know? Their living proper lives right now and I can't check every hand of redheads, blackheads and albino's in the universe."

"I understand, Sir," Sedaytion said, trying to hold back that horrible tear that stuck around in her eye.

Without another word, Sedaytion left the room, just nodding ever so slightly. The cream door slid open, letting her into the empty hallway. Her mind was blank as she walked the ever-so familiar floor. She was stood on the ship called Shiva; part of the Vector Industries.

Just moments after … the incident … Helen had left Yuriev Institute, taking Sedaytion along with her. She had joined Vector, immediately being placed on one of their ships called Shiva as a Researcher. On the ship was an army section, and just a year after moving on it, Sedaytion joined and in three years she was a full member of the Army; a highly skilled member as well, and not just because of her Chip in her arm, which provided her with an array of powers. The chip was the only reason the ship allowed such a young girl onboard; they knew she would be able to take care of her own wellbeing. When Sedaytion turned seventeen, she was offered more surgical engineering by the Doctors on board the ship, but she denied.

'_Silly people thinking I'm a normal experiment,'_ she would always laugh. _'They don't know why I was truly made like this.'_

Sedaytion continued to walk the lonely floor, towards the elevator. She took a right; the glass doors instantly slid open to let her inside the elevator. She stepped in, shutting the door behind her. As she waited for the elevator to take her to her floor, her eyes glanced at her reflection in the tall mirror.

A small girl stared back. Sedaytion was barely 5"5; she hadn't grown much since she was a young teenager. She was short for a nineteen year old, but she didn't care. Her eyes were still the same mix of gold and pink. They seemed content, but something was missing from her; it was _him. _Ever since the incident something always looked wrong in her eyes, no matter how hard she could be laughing; no matter how wide her smile was, she never seemed complete in her emotions. Her hair had been cut down to her shoulders. It was straight, curling together slightly at the ends. Her bangs still brushed across her forehead.

She was wearing a pair of green shorts, with an orange, short sleeved top. Around her wrists were multicoloured bracelets, helping to cover the horrible blue dragon and the number 003. And tied neatly around her thin neck was the four leaf clover necklace. She wrapped her fingers around it, clinging onto it so tightly as if it were her life.

The elevator stopped, and she stepped out into the busy hallway. As she passed people she waved, smiled and gave the odd 'hello'. She walked to her room at a quick pace, trying to avoid eye contact with people, so that she wouldn't get tangled up into a conversation. She was quite popular at the Ship, despite her young age. She had spent a few years there; venturing out to meet and greet, which attracted people to her. People still knew nothing about the so called 'mysterious' girl; no one even knew anything about her powers, but they wanted to know.

She got to her room quickly, placing her finger on the recognition machine and stepped inside of her room. Her room was quite big, with five steps leading to a higher level. On the higher level were her bed and a set of drawers. The higher floor was made of glass, along with the stairs. For the bottom floor, there was light blue carpet, and the walls were the usual cream colour that matched the rest of the ship. Underneath the higher floor were many boxes, crammed with useless junk Sedaytion had decided to keep from her childhood. Sometimes she tried to get herself to look through the boxes to see what could be inside, but she always stopped herself from doing so. She was never good at going back in time. She had a tough childhood, an okay teenage life but with a … tragic ending she wished never to relive.

Against the wall was a glass desk with a silver computer on top. Near all the boxes was another glass table, with three stools around it. On the table was all her mail and papers she had to fill out. Along with that, there was a wardrobe and another pair of drawers. She liked her room quite a bit, though she couldn't care about the dull coloured walls. She wanted something different to that; something more interesting. Even though she liked the room, she defiantly preferred the one she had at the Institute, even though while she was there she hated it.

"You don't appreciate something until it's gone," Sedaytion mumbled to herself. "As they always say."

Sedaytion shut the door, and the computer began to beep the moment she did. A long sigh escaped her mouth as she walked to it to switch the screen on. She had an idea who the person would be, but she wasn't really bothered. Knowing someone was trying to talk to her, and not really wanting to talk herself, she turned her back to look at the mail that was set out on the table. There were at least a dozen brown envelopes resting happily there, waiting to be opened. But one stuck out the most, with a strange dragon-like seal on it.

Her hand hesitated above it.

"Sedaytion Jem Clementine, correct?" a deep, male voice asked.

She was so transfixed by the strange envelope, that she didn't even think about asking who the strange voice belonged to. Instead, she spoke. "Yes, Sir."

She lifted up the envelope, beginning to open it up.

"What room number might you be in?" he asked.

"Number 0057, Sir," Sedaytion answered.

"We'll be over to see you shortly," the man said.

Quickly tuning to reality, Sedaytion turned her head sharply to the screen. But it was too late – the person had already signed off, leaving the screen to just show her desktop and a picture of her as a teenager, with Rubedo, Nigredo and Albedo with her. Sedaytion frowned, wondering what had just happened. "Who the hell was that?"

She shrugged, not really caring. He was probably someone wanting to do a check up on her, or someone who wanted her to do some training. She let her eyes look back down at the note that was once hidden inside the envelope. Wrote in perfect handwriting, a style she knew so well, was

'_Everything had failed so dramatically, but I know it's coming together the way I wanted it to. You can never run away, Jem.'_

"Whatever!" Sedaytion said angrily, screwing the paper up in her hand. With a good aim, the paper ball was thrown into the trash can; never to be seen again. "Stupid Doctor's from the Institute. Ha, they think they're so clever."

She threw the envelope in the bin, to follow the paper. "Bastards."

Sedaytion yawned, stretching her arms above her head. The days work suddenly toppled onto the nineteen year old, as she realized how tired she really was. Since six in the morning she had been training; running around, shooting targets and building up her strength. When she was young, she never imagined her clumsy self to be part of the army, but things changed. She wanted to be a singer, but she never pursued that career; she wanted to be helpful. She wanted to be able to fight for people. But, even though she told herself that was the reason for why she joined the army, she couldn't believe it.

She had been told she was a weapon and weapons fight; they have to. What else can they be used for?

Sedaytion made her way up to her bed, lying on it without bothering to change her cloths. In moments she had fallen asleep, and the lights dimmed down for her. She lay there peacefully.

The knocking was what woke Sedaytion up. The increasingly loud, impatient knocking that was coming from her door. She sat up suddenly, bringing her legs under her and placing her hand on her gun. Her heart thudded, and she wondered who the stranger could be. There were no pauses between the knocking; perhaps signalling the person had been there for quite some time. Reluctantly, she pulled herself off her soft bed, and she began to walk down the door, keeping her eyes suspiciously on the door.

As she went over to the door, she saw it was half two in the morning. She cleared her throat. "I'm coming." She said loudly.

The knocking ceased at her words, and soon her finger was placed on the machine for the door to slid open. Sedaytion took a step back as the door opened, a little fearful of who could be standing there.

The person who stood there was a tall man, looking quite displeased and slightly angry. He looked about her age, maybe a little bit older. His hair was slightly messy, and a jet black colour. He wore a neat black suit, which showed some importance. His green eyes suddenly turned to ones of shock when he looked at Sedaytion. For a split second he stared at her, almost as if he were staring at a ghost. Sedaytion raised an eyebrow, not feeling frightened of him, more confused.

"And you are?" she asked, breaking the silence.

He stumbled at his words slightly when he answered. "My name is Gainun Kukai."

Sedaytion had heard of the Kukai foundation before, so was he the leader? And what the hell was he doing there, standing in front of her?

His hands were clenched tightly, as if he was trying to hide something. His mouth was open, and he was trying to speak but nothing left; he looked too stunned. Sedaytion couldn't help but smirk slightly.

"Can I help you, Mr Kukai?" Sedaytion asked innocently. She thought the man looked like Nigredo, with his mysterious green eyes and jet black hair, but it couldn't be him, could it? He was called Gainun, not Nigredo, and he was wearing a suit and was the leader of the Kukai foundation. Could a U.R.T.V really get that successful in life?

"You have to come with me," he said.

Before she had a chance to respond, he had taken hold of her hand. With strength he dragged her out of the room, shutting the door behind them. Sedaytion tried to pull free from him but she was too weak compared to the man. She was freaked out by the person taking her away, but there was no one to get help from; the hall was empty. Without thinking, a sharp electrical current ran through her left fingers, going through Gainun's own skin.

Gainun suddenly let go, gasping in pain as he did so. Sedaytion quickly moved back away from him, holding her left hand up threateningly. Gainun shook his hand, trying to get the tingling feeling off. After a second of recovering he looked back at Sedaytion.

"I would prefer if you didn't do that," he said, rubbing away a prickling feeling in his skin.

"I'd prefer you would tell me what the hell you were doing!" Sedaytion countered. "Tell me what you want now."

"I want you to come with me," he calmly said. He looked at her red hair. After a moment he pointed to it. "I did prefer that longer."

"Pardon?" Sedaytion asked, lowering her hand slowly until it was back at her side. An expression of confusion and shock was rubbed on her face. Her fingers ran through her short hair slowly, and she watched Gainun.

Gainun smirked, placing his hands on his hips. He shook his head. "You're part of the army, yet you insist on using your powers instead of your gun."

"Bullets can kill," Sedaytion said. "I can make this as little pain as I desire."

Gainun nodded, putting his arms back down. He stood near her taking hold of her left wrist. She felt the urge to pull away, yet she didn't. "You're going to come with me now, yeah? And there won't be any trouble?"

Strangely, she found herself nodding as she felt almost … safe with the man.

Sedaytion kept her eyes on Gainun as he led them towards the elevator. Strange mixes of emotions were running through her veins; so many she didn't even have a clue how she was really feeling. She felt like she knew Gainun's soft touch; that she knew his voice and all his traits but she couldn't help but feel frightened, then confused about why she felt like she knew him. He wasn't Nigredo; he couldn't have been! She wasn't letting herself think that he could be, but the thought still loomed deep in her.

Sedaytion watched closely as Gainun pushed the button for them to go to the basement. Sedaytion smirked.

"That's just storage," she mumbled. "You planning to murder me then pack me away?"

"Don't assume such things," Gainun said, tightening his grip around her wrist in a none-threatening way.

They waited in silence to be taken six floors down. Being bored by silence, Sedaytion's mouth spoke before her mind let her.

"What's someone high-and-mighty want with me?" Sedaytion asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked up to Gainun, who she felt small compared to. "Seeing as though you're not planning on murdering me, I think you may want a picnic, yes? There's so much food down below; some tables and chairs too. Maybe there's even a little picnic table there."

"Where did you get the idea of a picnic?" he laughed. Sedaytion shrugged.

"I dunno," she smiled. She looked down at his hands that were still clenched. After a few moments she looked back up at Gainun. "Do you believe in having connections with people?"

"What do you mean?" he asked. Four floors were left. It seemed the elevator was going extremely slow.

"Do you believe that if you make a deep enough mark in someone," Sedaytion began. "That no matter what you'll see them again?"

"Yes," Gainun firmly answered. "Quite an emotional thing you'd ask."

"I guess," Sedaytion said, shrugging her shoulders. She sighed deeply.

"Do you?"

Sedaytion seemed quite taken back by his question, pausing for a few heart beats before finally bringing herself to answer. Once she started to speak, her eyes looked down to the floor. "Yeah, I think so. I hope so."

Sedaytion looked back up at Gainun, who was politely staring foreword at the door. A little flash in his eyes made her heart skip a beat. Her eyes widened and she knew it. It was true; it was _him_.

After a moment she laughed slightly, taking his attention. After another moment she was in fits of laughter, covering her eyes with her hand to stop them from watering. When she looked back up at Gainun with her red face, he looked confused at her outburst. She smirked.

"You've never been good at covering up," she laughed.

His lips curled into a small smile.

"It is you, isn't it?" she asked him. Her laughing had suddenly stopped, and her anxious face was straight and serious. Her hand went over her mouth. "You are Nigredo, aren't you?"

"Yes," he smiled, pleased she remembered.

Sedaytion breathed in deeply, gasping for air. Her eyes suddenly flooded with happy tears, and she embraced warm Gainun tightly. She wrapped her arms tightly around his body, as if to never let go. She heard him laugh slightly, which was like music to her ears. _"You found me!"_

"I never thought I'd see you again," she cried. The elevator suddenly came to a stop, the doors opened wide. She felt the cold air of the basement brush against her skin, yet she ignored it; spending a few more minutes in Gainun's arms. Never had she felt so safe. Even though Rubedo and _Albedo_ were missing, at least she got one of her close friends back.

"I never thought I'd see you again either," a childish voice came to her ears that defiantly did not belong to Gainun.

The voice was o-so familiar; so sweet and so mischievous. Sedaytion quickly let go of Gainun to see the redhead standing at the elevator door. Sedaytion stood there, shell shocked. Rubedo was standing in front of her; the child version of him that she had remembered. For a second she thought she was in some dream, a dream she didn't want to wake up from. She felt Gainun's hands slide off her arms, but she ignored it. She just stared at Rubedo; her heart pounding faster then it ever had before.

"Well?" he asked, opening out his arms. "You gonna give me a hug or not?"

Sedaytion paused, letting herself get used to the situation. She had run it through her head a hundred dozen times, what it would be like to see them again, but she never imagined she would feel as happy as she was. She had never imaged feeling as great as she did. She never imaged the strength of Rubedo's hug to be as warm as it was. She hated hugging Rubedo when she was younger; mostly because it seemed weirdly strange, and because he always held tightly onto her with his strong arms, preventing her from breathing properly. But she was happy to be held by Rubedo; she was happy to know that nothing was going to split them up again.

When she pulled away from Rubedo, her eyes quickly glanced around the dark storage area, in hopes to find her white headed hero, but he was nowhere in sight. The storage area was eerily silent as Sedaytion took a few breathes to compose herself and see whether Albedo was there or not.

"Are you okay?" Rubedo asked her, looking into her eyes with his.

Sedaytion nodded, still slightly stunned about the situation.

"Are you going to tell Sedaytion why we are here, Jr?" Gainun asked. Sedaytion frowned.

"Jr?" she repeated.

"Yeah, my name's Jr now!" Jr said, with pride in his voice. "I changed my name, just like Gainun did."

"So, I have to call you different names?" Sedaytion asked.

Jr didn't answer the question; instead he followed Gainun's orders. "We're here to take you to the Kukai foundation, where you'll be with us!"

"Really?" Sedaytion asked, with excitement in her voice. She was going to live with her friends again. Amazing. "With Albedo too?"

The room went silent again. The silence was awkward, and the cold breeze against Sedaytion's bare skin seemed to get colder. She waited in silence, bringing her hand up to her Clover necklace. She wished she hadn't asked such a silly question; all this time she had been hoping Albedo would be there, but she knew he had died. He had tragically been killed by U-DO; the final day Sedaytion was at the Institute; the day that had changed her life and it was also the day something had died in her. Her life went in ruins since that day, and she had cruelly fooled herself into thinking Albedo was alive. Such a cruel mind she had.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quietly, lowering her head. She watched as a tear rolled down her nose. She felt bad for feeling so ungrateful; Rubedo and Nigredo were there, even if they were Jr and Gainun; her close friends were there, so that was good right? "I know … he's dead."

A firm hand was placed on her shoulder. She sniffed, looking at Gainun who stood at her side. There was a look of displeasure in his eyes when he spoke, even though his voice was happy. "Albedo is _alive_."

"He is?" Sedaytion asked, looking at Jr to be sure. He nodded, but his face looked just as unhappy as Gainun's did. "Can I see him?"

"He is part of U-TIC," Gainun informed. Sedaytion's eyes widened slightly. "I am … sure you know what that means."

"He's not going to kill me if he sees me," Sedaytion smirked. She knew all about U-TIC, and how they were not … the most co-operative with the government. She knew most of the people there were murders; cruel and crazy murders with nothing else to do with their lives, but Albedo surely wasn't truly part of that. "Have you spoken to him?"

"He's mentally unstable," Jr said. Sedaytion shook her head, keeping the smirk on her face. She was unwilling to believe it.

"Has he spoken about me?" she asked. "Does he remember me?"

"Very much so," Gainun answered. "He refers to you as his rouge calmant."

"Is it good things he says about me?" Sedaytion asked, getting more and more excited, opposing what Gainun and Jr were feeling.

"U-TIC wants to use you," Gainun suddenly said.

"Gainun, don't!" Jr sharply said, trying to silence him.

"The U-TIC want your powers, Sedaytion," he continued. "They know of your past, and we have reason to believe some people there were Doctors that worked on you when you were younger."

"You're voice is frightening me," Sedaytion said, moving so Gainun's hand was off her shoulder. He spoke like he was a lawyer, or a police officer. Was he truly his friend anymore or was he just trying to protect his 'so-special' Kukai Foundation?

Sedaytion frowned. "You're just here to protect your Foundation."

"No, to protect you," Jr said.

"No, no, no," Sedaytion said. "If U-TIC has hold of me, then your Foundation will probably get destroyed. I'm not stupid. You both know that."

Jr and Gainun stood in an awkward silence that made Sedaytion shuffle from one foot to another. She more then upset about the sudden twist of what happened.

"Sedaytion that doesn't matter!" Jr yelled. "We're here to help you. If U-TIC has hold of you, they'll probably kill you or turn you into a machine. Do you want that?"

Sedaytion looked at her hand. She opened her hand, showing her palm. Then she closed it, looking carefully at the Dragon on her wrist. It had an evil look to it; a dangerous and frightening look she had only just noticed.

"Does it matter?" she stubbornly asked. She stretched her hand again.

The day had been strange. Just twelve hours ago she had been training, working to the best of her ability without a care in the world. Then she was overwhelmed with joy at the sight of her two close friends and the thought of Albedo being alive, but then in a split second she was being shipped off, kept under close surveillance like a weapon. She had packed all she needed and more in silence, leaving a note for her dear carer, Helen and then the next thing she knew she was onboard the Durandel, sitting in a room with two guards. Both guards had weapons, and she felt so angry with Gainun and Jr for treating her like a child.

She had become part of the army to prove she could take care of herself, and her two closest friends had taken away the years of training in less then an hour; they had reduced her down to a helpless child that could go off on a fit at any moment. For all she knew those guards could've been there to protect Gainun and Jr from being attacked by Sedaytion herself. Because that's how much anger she had flowing around her veins and they knew that.

And not only was that all going on, but they wouldn't let her talk to Albedo.

The room she was in was small, with a single bed and a few draws. There were unpacked boxes of her things lining the cream walls. The door was in plain sight, being guarded by two guards, that acted more like dolls; she couldn't even hear them taking in breathes.

Sedaytion sprayed out on the emerald coloured sheets. Her arms went above her head, and a deep sigh escaped her lips. Was this to be her life?

"Never expected it to be like this," she mumbled to herself.

Sedaytion couldn't help but look at the guards, with the thought of killing them in her head. She thought about using her powers to get past them, not killing them but knocking them out, then she wondered about what she would do next. In moments she had an entire plan worked out in her head, a quick, easy escape plan. Take out the guards; take their weapons and mobiles, then sneak through the hallways to the Dock where there would surely be a smaller Space Craft for her to high jack.

But she couldn't bring herself to run away. Even though she hated Nigredo and Rubedo to some extent, she couldn't stand to lose them again. She couldn't. And beside; they were the only people who she could get an answer about Albedo's whereabouts from.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve –**

**Change**

_She hovered around the room, moving her legs at a fast pace. When she came to a wall, she placed her left palm firmly on the cold plaster, before continuing herself at a fast rate. She rarely breathed, as if to try and suffocate herself. The room was dark, she could hardly see the items in the room, yet she knew none of them were hers. The room felt cold; the same for her feelings and her old friends. As she paced, she assured herself she was fine; that everything was fine._

_Yet she knew she couldn't do it._

"_I can't do this!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She knew her screaming would alert the guards on the other side of the door, but she couldn't care less. Her hand gripped her left wrist, and she felt like tearing away her arm; tearing away what wasn't truly her flesh. "Damn you Rubedo!" she screamed loudly._

_Her nails dug deeply into her flesh, piercing it badly. She kept her long nails in her skin, watching as the blood ran out. Her short red hair was covering half her face; her pink and gold eyes began to glow. She heard the door open, a person ran into the room, but their voice was muffled. She stared as a hand began to pull her nails from her skin. The light was suddenly switched on, making her blink several times to get used to the difference._

"_What the hell are you doing?" a childish, yet firm voice asked._

_She stayed staring at the blood on her arm, not hearing his voice. He called her name several times, another hand was placed on her shoulder. When she looked up she saw two different people; one was wearing dark cloths, with jet black hair and glowing green eyes; the other with a shade of hair like her own and ice blue eyes. Her sight was blurry, and she couldn't make out their faces that well._

"_Sedaytion!" the taller person suddenly yelled, bringing her back to reality._

_She could see their faces perfectly; Nigredo and Rubedo's. Her small cuts began to sting, and she wiped the blood off her nails onto her jeans. She swallowed, blinking a few times, trying to pretend nothing had happened._

"_Yes sir?" she asked, standing up straight. Nigredo stood, staring at her._

"_You just …" he shook his head, looking down at the cream floor._

"_Sedaytion, are you feeling okay?" Rubedo asked, trying to get her attention. He put a hand on her forehead, checking her fine temperature._

"_I wanna go home …" she whispered. She put her hands on Rubedo's shoulders. "I hate you!"_

_Rubedo seemed stunned, but not hurt by her words. He shuffled from one foot to the other, and then shook his head. "I'm sorry."_

"_You're not leaving me here!" she screamed._

_An electrical current ran through her fingers, going through Rubedo's shoulder. He screamed; as she released him a large strand of yellow energy clung to him from her fingers. A large, devious smiled was plastered across her face as she watched Rubedo suffer. His eyes were open wide in pain; his hand clung onto her jacket and he had moved onto his knees._

"_Sedaytion!" Nigredo yelled, trying to pull her away. Her eyes had turned all gold, and she looked at Nigredo with another devious look._

"_Yes sir?" she asked._

"_Let him go!" he demanded._

"_Hmm …" Sedaytion put her right finger to her lip, returning her eyes to gaze at the suffering Rubedo that pleased her. She then shook her head. "I think not."_

"_Sedaytion!" he slapped her cheek firmly, making her head turn. Her hair covered her face, yet it never broke her power. She stayed like that for a moment, stunned; her eyes wide open._

_She felt numb; the slap hadn't hurt her, but it shocked her. She stood up straight, looking at Nigredo. Her eyes were still glowing gold, with an evil look to them, which made Nigredo take a step back. Sedaytion's entire body began to glow yellow; her powers were running out of all her fingers; attacking all the guards in the room. She watched as everyone struggled to keep themselves alive; she watched as her electricity tore through their scream and she listening to their screams, which was almost like music to her ears._

_Then she saw Rubedo collapse; his body too weak to survive her powers. She smiled; a dark and devious smile plastered on her face._

Sedaytion's eyes shot open in the dark room. Panicking, she quickly sprung out of the bed, looking left to right; wondering whether it had been a dream or not. She bit onto her nails, breathing quickly; her heart pounding.

"What the hell was that about?" she asked with fear in her fragile voice


End file.
